OVERLORD Side Adventures: Vol4 (Naruto crossover)
by dddggg
Summary: Continuation of my OVERLORD Side Adventures Vol.3 Will explain what happened to Ainz over the past 50 years of his absence Ainz steps through a mysterious door to finds he's in the world of Naruto, along with another strange partner. Takes place during "Season 2" of Naruto (Chunin Exams) Not recommended, but can be read without reading my other volumes.
1. Chapter 1

**AU= note if Naruto isn't "your thing" and you don't like the direction this series is going, skipping this volume is okay to do... This Volume is just a bit of fun and experimental in nature, as such, skipping this volume will not hurt your enjoyment of the over-arching story as most of it will be explained by Ainz to Nazarick (there will be a "catch up" chapter that will sum up this whole volume if you choose to skip it but still want to keep reading the series)**

**So with that in mind, if you still want to read the series but 'cross over' isn't your thing then I hope to see you in Vol.5 where things go back to "Just OVERLORD stuff"**

**Also if you are new to this series I would suggest reading the first 3 volumes, but if you don't want to this volume will not rely heavily on past events as they are in naruto verse for this volume, so welcome to the series if that is the case.**

CHAPTER ONE: A Different World

Ainz stepped through the portal and stood in a lush forest. It was the same one he'd seen on the other side of the doorway.

But first things were first. He tried to cast [MESSAGE]... nothing. No matter who he tried to contact hs spell [MESSAGE] would not work. But this was to be expected. He stretched out his hand and tried to cast [GATE]... it would not work, sadly this also was expected... but it would have been nice if he could have used [GATE] to connect to his old world in this new world. This was not the last of his tricks to get home... these would have just been the most convenient.

He looked at a tree and stretched his hand out.

"[MAGIC ARROWS]" Ainz cast a tier-one spell to see if magic even worked in this world. Several ling white magical blades flew from his hand and pelted the large tree with a barrage of magical energy. He nodded in the satisfaction that magic worked. He attempted to cast [GATE] just right next to him and the spell worked.

"So I can use [GATE] but it cannot connect to my old world..." Ainz looked up at the blue sky, it certainly looked like the world he had come from...

"So I am in an entirely different world than before?" he muttered. He became worried, like a feeling a child gets when he's lost when he realized he may just be stuck here.

"Damnit... I was too hasty... perhaps I've made a huge mistake?" Ainz pondered as he looked around. He was in a world with a blue sky and a green forest... that's all he could see so far. He was going to think about what to do next when some leaves fell from a tree behind him

I'm not alone...

He turned to see a man with grey and black padded armor. His face was covered by an animal mask that was very "Japanese" in nature. As soon as the man realized Ainz has seen him he drew a long curved blade... no two ways about it... that was a katana!

"You are deep in a restricted area of the Hidden Leaf, Remove your skull mask so I can see what village you are from!" the man with a white and red fox mask asked. Ainz had the feeling he was not alone... in all likely hood, he was probably surrounded by more of these, ninja? Yes, The man that stood above him was defiantly a ninja class.

"Um, sorry to worry you... I am a caster from a far off land and..."

"You arn't a contestant are you? A caster? What is... So you admit to being from an outside village?" The man asked gruffly. Ainz took a step back... that term wasn't used here...

"Uh... that is to say I use some ...magic?" Ainz said hoping at least this world understood that term. But the man readied his weapon.

"No... no participant would be here, you are extremely suspicious... and I don't know what this "magic" is... but I have deemed you a threat to the Hidden Leaf village... under the authority of the ANBU security forces...surrender or prepare to die, intruder,!" the man said.

Damn, this is going poorly... if I could just talk...

"Please, there is no need for this! i am only lost and seek..."Ainz was saying but the man scowled and tried to blink out of Ainzes field of vision. However, it was just speed... and Ainz could follow his movements perfectly, as well at the three others that leaped out to engage him.

"Hostile already? Well, this will be a good chance to test the strength of this different world..." Ainz figured he'd try an old favorite.

"[AURA OF DESPAIR III]" Ainz used a weak AOE spell that would stun weaker enemies around him. Instantly the four ninjas dropped out of the air and landed with a thunk...

Thunk? Bodies don't... Ainz was thinking when he realized there were four chunks of wood around him where bodies should be.

A switch spell? Or, damage redirection? Interesting... Ainz mused as the shadows moved around him.

"There you are... [GRASP HEART]." Ainz reached out to the closest shadow. This was no clone, he could feel the target's heart beating in his hand, then Ainz crushed the magically cloned heart in his hand. At once a real body landed next to him, the man was already dead.

"High deception and stealth... but no death resistance..." Ainz muttered as hundreds of meatal blades flew at him from all directions. He would have to teleport to avoid the black knives that flew at him from all directions.

But Ainz chose to take the barrage instead. As expected, the blades bounced off him harmlessly. He was protected by his trait of damage immunity to anything under level 60.

"Not even level 60 huh? Well, that's good," Ainz nodded as he grabbed at one of the shadows that moved to backstab him. He caught the shocked man by the neck.

"[PARALYZING TOUCH]" The man would be kept alive but he'd be unable to move. Ainz dropped him to the ground. The two hidden attackers realized their position and fell back immediately.

"We have to report this intruder to the Hokage... one of us will have to buy time for the other to..." one ninja was saying to the other.

"Escape?" Ainz said. He had teleported behind them. One wore a cat mask and was female the other had a bear mask and male... the male was attempting to buy time for the female to leave it would seem.

They are comrades then... he cares for this one.

The two ninja looked shocked to see the skeleton standing behind them. There was a flash of silver and both ninja had drawn their blades and instinctively slashed at him. But their swords could not penetrate the magical barrier that protected Ainz.

"Well, I have one of you already... and it would be a hassle if you escaped..." Ainz was saying. The female was already leaping away in an attempt to escape as the male was following up another attack. Ainz ignored the male ninja futilely hitting him with his sword.

"[LIGHTNING]" Ainz stretched out his had at the fleeing ninja as an arc of white energy crackled past trees and struck the ninja in the back. She cried out in pain and landed hard, smoking but barely alive.

"So you have some lighting resistance do you?" Ainz mused as he looked at the man.

"Monster... take this!" The bear masked man said he made a series of weird hand symbols incredibly fast. Suddenly the man blew a blast of fire at Ainz.

Ainz was weak to fire as an undead, but he could barely feel this... it was maybe on par with a third or fourth tier spell... not enough to deal any real damage.

When the fire dissipated the man was trying to run away... he knew the fire attack would not be enough and was making his way toward the settlement Ainz had seen through the door.

"So you are from that place then... sorry I'd like to make peaceful connections with them... and this misunderstanding will ruin that... [GRASP HEART]." Ainz said as he instantly killed the man by magically crushing his heart, this was an effective spell against rouge type classes as he could tell if the target was "alive" or not.

He then walked over to the woman who was trying to crawl away in pain, but he had destroyed most of her body with the lightning. Ainz really did not like to see humans suffer for no reason so he put this out of her misery with a swift stomp to the back of her neck.

"Now then..." Ainz said as he gathered up the three dead bodies. He used [CREATE UNDEAD] and turned all three bodies into Death Knights. They appeared from the black goop his magic turned their bodies to. From the goop stood a large and imposing figure. he then went over to the one alive ninja and took off his mask. The man looked unremarkable, maybe even vaguely Japanese... The Death Knights would provide protection while he did this next part...

"let's see what you have to tell me..." Ainz said smugly as he put his hand over the mans head and began reading his memories. Oddly enough his spell had some trouble penetrating his mind...

"So you have high mental resistance?" But it wasn't enough and before long Ainz was looking through this mans life.

"A whole ninja city? No... everyone in this world is... The Hidden leaf?... Works for a secret security division called ANBU... he's considered strong by the average ninja/soldier but... there are some out there that terrify him... " Ainz nodded.

If this guy was considered "above average" but nowhere near the mark of this world's level of "hero" then he would have to be careful... there were people here that could very well kill him it seemed like.

In terms of level this man would probably be Adamantite ranked... maybe even a little weaker than... Clementine? Level 30 or so I'd place him...

Clementine was considered one of the strongest physical fighters in his old world, she was almost a legend. But in this land, it seemed her level was obtainable by the ones just a little more skilled than their comrades...

"So the "heroes" of my old world would be just be considered "above average" here..." Ainz did some calculations... he could expect plenty of level 100 opponents here it would seem, but these would be the "champions" of this world.

"No magic but... looks like ju-jitsu is used in place of it... those hand gestures, are how... fascinating!" Ainz immediately wanted to learn the secrets of this Ju-Jitsu art... if he could take this knowledge back to Nazarick and they could replicate it... the potential was incredibly high for a huge power increase... especially if he could use thie without tapping into mana...

"No wait... chakra... physical energy and spiritual... nope, as an undead I won't be able to tap into these aspects of it... shame... maybe Sebas could, however, this sounds a lot like the "ki" he uses." Ainz nodded. His mana was running low but he needed to know more, he kept looking through the mans life.

Has a daughter and wife... boring... boring... ah! Hokage...the village leader, he's one of the ones I need to be careful of... Suddenly Ainzes black eye sockets flared up!

Some kind of event is happening... something called, a... Chunin Exam? It, seems like a test of some kind? I'm in a place called 'Forest of Death' that sounds nice. There are kids coming this way... There is one that...

"What?... what is a... tailed beast?" Ainz said out loud. Other than an outside from another village attack, the man was more terrified of this... Nine Tailed Fox that lived in the village than anything... why would they let something this terrible walk around freely? But just as Ainzes mana ran out he got a name from the mans mind...

"Naruto."

A boy in the village has this monster sealed within him? All I would need to do is get this "Naruto" back to Nazarick and we could figure out a way to extract the thing! Probably could do it without killing the child... I might be able to even resurrect him as he seems rather strong for a child...

This was it! Other than the promise of this "ju-Jitsu" this 'Nine-tailed fox monster' was the thing Ainz came here for, and it was already conveniently wrapped up for him! The man began to try and say something.

"Oh right... sorry." Ainz had forgotten about him and delivered a fast, fatal, strike to the man then used his body to make a fouth Death Knight. As the fourth warrior stood next to the other three Ainz nodded.

"At least you four will get to remain in the same group right?" But the four Death knight just looked at him in silence. Ainz clicked the tongue he did not have. He reached into his pocket and looked at the stone figurines. These were similar in nature to the 'switch stones' from YGGDRASIL but they were used to summon team members. In YGGDRASIL they could summon friends from a different world... in theory, they should still work. He had two in his hand.

"Shalltear... or Albedo... or both?" These were his choices. He could summon them but they would be stuck with him in this world. Also when one of them vanished they would know Ainz was alive and had summoned them.

"Shalltear then!" Ainz said as he crushed the figurine in his hand. He felt the magic work and a summoning circle appeared before him. Within the circle, the figure of a young girl appeared. But the one who stood before him was not Shalltear.

She was a young girl of about nine years. She had short blond hair and large glaring blue eyes. She wore a kind of uniform that resembled something Pandoara's actor would wear, it resembled an old german uniform from his human world. On her back was strapped an ancient-looking firearm... a 'rifle' it was called.

She looked around, scanning her surroundings quickly. Her eyes fell on the aspect of death that stood before her. They immediately were filled with hate.

"YOU! So... you've finally come to face me... Being X!" The young girl announced before swinging the rifle over her shoulder and pointing it at Ainz. Before Ainz could piece together what was happening the girl began to pray... was she so scared of him that she was praying to her god, thinking she was doomed?

"Oh Lord, hear my voice... and give me the power to destroy the enemies of my fatherland..." her blue eye's turned golden... and magical energy crackled all around her.

Shit, this brat is using a spell! Ainz realized this too late as magical energy was released from her gun and exploded in his chest. The spell was infused with holy and was also fire in nature... it easily penetrated Ainzes defenses and the explosion sent Ainz flying away.

He felt a good portion of his life get chunked... this girl was much higher in level than the ones he'd just killed, she had to be from another world or she was one of these "legendary ninjas" the man feared... yet her firearm and clothes looked very "not ninja". By the time Ainz had landed on the ground, he decided she was probably not from this world either...

I shouldn't attack her, we need to talk first... However...

"GAH!" the girl cried out as a golden staff was suddenly in Ainzes hand. It was the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown... or rather a fake version of it... but it had many of the same battle functions that the real one had, including a function that would automatically return damage back to the attacker of whoever holds the staff. A large blast of holy energy was released at the little girl. She managed to block the attack with a barrier, but that attack had stopped her a follow-up attack.

Did she call me Being X? Who or what is that I wonder...

Ainz got to his feet easily. The girl was already readying another spell...

"I pray unto God... Lord help me smite the ones that would do harm to my fatherland..." Ainz used [GREATER TELEPORTATION], appearing right next to her, he laid his hand on the glowing rifle.

"[BREAK GREATER ITEM]" Ainz cast on the girl's rifle. And suddenly her rifle exploded in her hands. But the explosion was not large, it simply had destroyed her weapon.

"Eh?" She blinked as she realized her rifle had vanished. She turned and looked up. A violent sneer appeared on her otherwise cute face as she spun a step away from him and unsheathed a combat knife. The knife looked like it could be from his original world and was not magical in nature. She held it up in front of her with her other hand reach to grab anything... it was a soldier knife fighting stance! He recognized it from old movies. This girl fascinated him.

Whoever this girl was, she wasn't from this "ninja world" and he felt he should find out who this "Being X" was as well.

"Stop your attack! I am not this person you think... my name is Ainz Ooal Gown and there is a misunderstanding here..." He called out. She glared at him for a second she looked at her knife then again at Ainz. She was figuring out it was pointless to fight... could she be reasoned with?

"F...fine... if you're not Being X... what the hell are you? You're clearly not human!" She spat in defiance. How could such a young girl have such a thick killing intent!

"I am undead...but that isn't important... and I think we should talk..." Ainz said. She seemed to be thinking and decided it was okay to talk. Her large blue eyes squinted suspiciously at him.

"Well... you... why am I here?" her eyes then darted around, looking for other dangers. She noticed the Death Knights and tried to hide her surprise.

"I er, um... well I was attempting to summon a comrade of mine when you showed instead... using magic," Ainz honestly admitted. She looked him over and nodded.

"Well, you have a weird crystal... but if this is a mistake... then send me back!" She demanded. Ainz shrugged and shook his head.

"I'm sorry... this summons was one way, for lack of a better term... you are stuck here with me until we both find a way back. The girl then looked warily at the four death knights who stood in a silent watch. She realized had he ordered these things to attack her, she would have been flanked and killed.

"I am sorry... for what it's worth... Again allows me to introduce myself... I am The Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown," Ainz admitted. She glared then dusted herself off and looked around once more.

"King? Um, well I am Tanya von Degurechaff of the Imperial Army 203rd Air Mage Battalion." She straightened up like a soldier upon saying her title. But her eye's never left him or the staff he held.

"I see, thank you for hearing me out, Miss Degurechaff," Ainz said offering her a respectful bow.

"Just call me Tanya..." She said backing up and keeping her distance from Ainz.

"Very well uh, Tanya... You may simply call me Ainz," She cocked an eyebrow at him but seemed to decide he was not a threat.

"Very well... Ainz... So then, tell me what's going on..." She said. Ainz nodded.

"Like you, I do not belong in this world... upon coming here, by my own free will, I fought and killed four inhabitants from this world... their city is that way... I think they will be peaceful if we approach them in the correct fashion... but I am new here and know very little about this world..." Tanya thought for a second, then decided he was not lying.

"Well, it seems we're stuck together then... assuming you're telling the truth!" Her glare pierced his undead soul.

Crap! What's with this girl? just her gaze is more terrifying than her spell was!

"I am telling the truth and, we probably should work together as we are both strangers here," Ainz said timidly, her gaze felt like a million tons was pressing down on him!

"Very well, Ainz... what was your plan on getting us back to our homes?" She asked, crossing her arms but walking up to him in a somewhat familiar manner. Demiurge had actually given him quite a bit of advice about what to do under various circumstances... either way, attempting a friendly encounter was always the best, especially since he wasn't the biggest fish in a small pond any longer.

"Well um... I learned there is a creature of incredible power in that city... and it's laying dormant inside a boy, I figure that's our best shot," he lied. There were other methods he could try to get home but he did not want to leave with this "Naruto" and the power that lay within him. Tanya nodded.

"Very well... I will accompany you until we are able to leave... but as I am here thanks to you, this is your show... understand?" Her soul-crushing glare weighed Ainz down once again.

"...W, Well I am a King after all..." Tanya looked at him and Ainz caught a glimpse of a predator... she clearly was thinking of a way to use him to her own ends... well, that was comforting to him actually.

"So... we should try and make contact with this "Hidden Leaf Village"... but my appearance might throw people off..." Ainz said as thought about donning his traditional mask he would use to hid his undead nature, as well as the metal gloves. Tanya looked at him with a smirk. But he figured a different look would be better in this different world. He used some old 'cosplay gear' he had. It would change his appearance of that of a Hanzo without affecting his stats.

"Well, you look like a ninja, that's for sure," she snorted then looked at the Death knights.

I never used the term 'ninja' and she recognized it... she might be from Earth as well... that German looking outfit is also suspicious. Ainz figured he'd try to ask her about her world casually as they traveled.

"What about them? Those things look menacing and I don't like the way they are glaring at me..." She spat looking at the four dark guards. He nodded... they did actually pose a problem.

"Hmm... true. Well, I will order them to follow us from very far behind... they will provide a good rear guard for our march." Ainz said nodding. Tanya seemed to understand that concept and nodded.

"If we are followed by any enemies I can have the Death knights help us lose them... I do not think they can easily kill the ones like I fought earlier, however... so they will only be a distraction. But whatever this exam is... I'd like to stay out of it, but it may provide us a good excuse to be in this village." Ainz informed her as they began their trek to the Hidden Leaf Village.

"I don't know what any of that means, but this is your show, as i said," Tanya said shrugging in a smug manner.

"There is some kind of test... or tournament being held in this town, we can blend in with the participants, but I'd like to just wait and see what this event is all about first, also the boy we are looking for should be there... seems a good place to start," Ainz said.

"Won't we just be seen?"

"I can make us invisible and fly. But as outsiders are supposed to be around, if we get out of this "restricted area" we could just blend in. Oh, can you do either of those spells?" Tanya shook her head 'no'.

"I could fly if I had my gear... as it is..." She grumbled. Ainz handed her a necklace with a wing on it.

"Use this to cast [FLY]. And if we run into anyone else just act like we are participants from "another village". so long as we don't gain the attention from any of the officials of this exam we should be okay," She seemed satisfied with that and followed him.

As they walked Ainz looked at the other summoning statue in his hand.

If Shalltear's summon figure summoned Tanya... who would I get if I tried to summon Albedo? He decided now was not the time for that and put the figure away.

"So, what's your plan to sneak in?" Tanya asked. Ainz looked ahead.

"I think we need to head to the tower in the center of this forest, now that we are out of the restricted zone (according to the memories of that ANBU agent) so we will need to get a set of scrolls from other teams... based on the skill of the guards these kids should be no problem for us."

"So... are we killing them?"

"Well... we don't really need to... but if it can't be avoided... are you fine with that?" Ainz looked at Tanya suspiciously and caught the sneer of someone who did not care about life or humanity.

"If it's easier to kill them we should," She said coldly.

She would fit in perfectly back in Nazarick...

"Well even still, let's try to avoid that if we can," Ainz suggested. Tanya gave an uncaring look and looked ahead, pointing.

"I think that might be what we're looking for..." She whispered as they ducked behind some bushes. Sure enough, a group of three walked out. Their guards were up but they didn't seem to be sneaking around. One had a series of straw umbrellas on his back. His partners wore cloaks that covered their bodies. the three of them seemed to be in their late teens. Ainz was thinking about how to engage them when...

"Excuse me, gentlemen!" He looked and Tanya was gone, she was in the open walking toward them carelessly.

What the hell is she doing?

Ainz remained hidden.

"I hear that I need the scroll you boys are carrying... please hand it over or my partner will kill you from the shadows!" She announced in a weird voice she hadn't used yet. It was overly cute and matched her nine-year-old appearance... honestly it was the most creepy thing he'd seen.

What the hell? i thought you agreed this was MY show? Ainz grumbled to himself but realized her set up was correct... he could kill the three of them easily if he wanted to.

The three of them froze at the unexpected voice, then turned to greet it. They seemed to relax when they saw her.

"It's just one of the really young ones... sorry little girl, but we need our scroll... in fact, why not hand over yours and we'll let YOU live!" The leader, who had a scar running down his face said with a confident chuckle. Ainz figured he'd go along with this impromptu and readied a spell.

"This is your last chance... hand it over... or else..." Tanya said, losing her cutey voice, now it was serious. She pointed her finger at the one in the back in a 'finger gun' way, liek a kid playing would do. Ainz figured he was supposed to kill that one.

"BANG!" Tanya yelled as she "pulled the trigger" on her finger gun. Ainz cast [DEATH] from his hidden position. Instantly the one she had "shot" fell dead. The two others looked shocked.

"Hey... get up!" His friend in the other cloak yelled nudging his dead body. But the man remained dead.

"Now then... your scroll, or else..." Tanya pointed her finger gun at the leader.

"H...hold on! H...here!" the terrified man said as he took the scroll from his dead partner's body and rolled it along the ground, it stopped at her feet. Tanya smiled smugly and put her hand against her belt as if she were holstering a handgun.

"Now go!" She ordered, pointing her 'gun' at them again. They screamed and ran away. Unfortunately, the two surviving ninjas would run into a familiar face. And a sandy death was all they would find.

Tanya returned confidently to Ainz tossing the scroll up and down. He was about to say something to her but his eyes latched onto the scroll and the mark that was on it... it was kanji.

"That's Japanese kanji!" he remarked. It was clearly the kanji for "heaven". Tanya looked at the scroll and then him with a shocked look.

"Wait... how do you know what kanji is... you know of Japan?" She remarked in a surprised voice.

"I... I was originally from Japan..." he said quietly. Her eyes grew wide.

"What the... then you too were a victim of Being X?" She asked surprised. Ainz shook his head.

"I don't know who or what this "Being X" is... I was transported into this undead body unexpectantly... I do not know how or why... so I suppose it's possible, but I can't really say one way or the other. Tanya sat thinking as she looked at the scroll. This world must have some connection to Japan... maybe she could get home... like "Japan home"!

"Well this is unexpected... we both come from Earth, yet aren't in our original bodies... there must be a connection there," Ainz mussed. Tanya nodded and tossed him the scroll.

"Well, I trust you a lot more now... I was going to kill you and take your stuff the second I figured out how to use it," she admitted with no trace of humor.

You admit that way too easily...

Ainz wondered if she would be trouble for him at some point.

"So... you won't betray me now?" Aizn asked dubiously. She smiled at him, it was a smug smile he recognized.

"I just thought you were some skeleton monster who summoned me to his own ends... but you are basically in the same boat as me... I can trust you if you were once human at least, it helps you were also Japanese... what did you do for a living?

Is she testing me?

"Well, I was just a normal salary-man unfortunately..." Tanya let out a laugh.

"Well then, I really trust you now... we even had the same career," She laughed again.

"I guess we should ponder on these coincidences later... I think we still need one more scroll," Ainz said. Tanya nodded and pointed to a dark section of the forest.

"Bet we'll find another team if we go that way," Ainz nodded as he stashed away the scroll.

Could this Being X be why i was taken from YGGDRASIL? Ainz wondered as he looked at Tanya. he'd ask her more about that later.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: Tanya vs Hinata and Kiba (Planning versus spirit! Orochimaru appears!)

A cute girl with short hair and weird white eyes stands next to her partners and friends. The boy next to her wears shorts and a hooded jacket, his puppy is nestled within it's cover. Her other friend wears black glasses and a long coat that covers most of his face and body. Ainz looks at them in his Hanzo cosplay, the three were on alert... could they sense his power?

"Hey... are these guys even really ninja... I can't sense any chakra from them... none. The girl with the short hair and long white jacket whispered to the boy with the dog,"

"Yeah... and they smell... like they are not from around here... that one in particular smells... not human." the boy with the dog said pointing at Ainz.

"No need for all this whispering and pointing... allow me to introduce myself... I am Ainz Ooal Gown, this is Tanya von Degurechaff, nice to meet you!" Ainz sais in a polite manner. These three were the kids that the man was thinkign about... Killing children did not sit well with him, so he would go about this in a different way. the three looked at them suspiciously.

"Ninja don't introduce themselves to the enemy you know... and what village are you from anyway, I don't see any headbands..." the boy with the dog asked, there was clear fear in his voice. Ainz looked at each of them. It was true, they all had a metal plate with a symbol of some kind etched into it's center. It must be a form of a dog tag.

He put his hands behind his back and cast [CREATE ITEM], mimicking the headbands they wore but with the symbol of Nazarick etched in the center, he also made note that everyone refers to their land as 'village'. He was learning a lot talking to these three.

"Ah, I was keeping mine hidden, but I am from the uh... Hidden Magic...Village,"

Did the bluff work? The man I read also called it "hidden"... I wonder if that was the right call... and he had no idea what 'magic' was wither... I should be safe...

"Never heard of it..." They all looked at Tanya with suspicion. Tanya seemed to read the mood well enough.

"MY headband was destroyed in our last fight... but we are a new village, this is our first event..."

"I don't remember them from the entrance exams..." The boy with glasses muttered. The three of them got into battle formation, but were looking to go on the defense, they were very wary of the two of them.

"We should just kill them if they don't hand over the scroll we need..." Tanya whispered, but loud enough that the ninja brats would hear. They all took a step back and clenched their teeth.

"See, they know death is a real possibility here... in other words they are soldiers, you should not think of them as children Ainz... that is a weakness," Tanya said confidently walking to the center area between the two groups. Her eyes fell upon the cute girl with the weird white eyes. Tanya pointed at her with all the confidence afforded to her as a trainer of elite soldiers.

"YOU! Come here!" Tanya ordered. The girl immediately jumped, her inner trained taken over at the sound of authority. The girl, however, caught herself and looked back at her partners. the one with the dog shook his head, while the other one with the glasses did nothing. The girl was weak, not physically, but spiritually, Tanya had seen this person a thousand times.

"You, you are obviously the weakest member on your team, why are you on this battlefield of death?" Tanya asked, taking a formal soldier's stance. The girl's eyes went wide with surprise at the unexpected and, personal, question. She poked her fingers together in a timid manner.

"U... I am... expected to be... strong," She meekly said. This sander actually was a good one for Tanya.

"I see, so you are here in this "trial by fire" willingly, to become strong... and you know if you fail... you will die, yes?" Tanya asked. The girl made a determined look and stood up straight for the first time.

"Yes... that's right... If I get strong or die... that is why I am here. I need to see if I am worthy of..."

"Hinata!" The boy with the dog yelled out. Apparently, she was about to say something not meant for the ears of the enemy. Tanya liked this girl, for two reasons. If she rose above and prevailed, she very well could turn her flaws into overpowered strengths, and if she failed... Tanya would enjoy crushing her personally... like all those unfit soldiers before her.

"Hmmm, Okay I've decided. You and me... Hinata was it? You may call me Tanya... we will fight one on one... the winner will give the loser their scroll," Tanya nodded. Hinata looked back at her male friends. This time the dog boy nodded. Same as the one with glasses. Ainz noticed something from the boy with glasses... he was an Entomancer! Bugs were his weapon, just like Entoma... he would love to capture that one for her...

"Hold on!" Ainz said walking up and pointing at the boy with the bugs.

"You have been surrounding us with bugs this whole time... it's why your team is so keen on drawing out this engagement," Ainz was bluffing really, he just assumed that is what an Entomancer would do. The lad clicked his tongue and clouds of beetles swarmed back into his body.

"Good call Ainz... Now, you... will you fight me or run?" Tanya asked. Again pointing at Hinata with her right hand behind her back. The timid ninja girl now walked up with confidence and took a stance Tanya did not recognize. Tanya kept her right hand behind her back and raised her left hand in a "come at me motion".

"Here I come..." Hinata politely announced. Her face suddenly became different, like she was straining her eyes incredibly hard, even slight veins could be seen protruding around her eyes.

"Wh...what?" Something took Hinata back.

"Hinata! What's wrong?" This girl's chakra is... I've... never seen something liek this..." the girl stood in amazement at the weird pattern of life energy the young girl before she gave off...

BANG!

A loud shot rang out that broke everyone's concentration. Tanya had not changed her position much. The hand that was behind her back held a german looking handgun, it's barrel smoking. She had simply turned her hips a bit to line up the handgun that was hidden behind her back with Hinita.

"What?" Hinita looked at her chest confused. A large red spot was on her jacket and it was getting bigger. She then fell to the floor.

"Hinita!" The boy with the dog cried out and ran at Tanya. The boy with the bugs made a move at Ainz. Tanya turned her arm into a proper aiming position and fired at the boy catching him in the head. His body fell to the ground but popped into a wooden stump with a bullet stuck in it.

"What?" Tanya looked at the weird wooden object confused.

"I got you!" The boy yelled as he came down with an ax kick that would shatter Tanya's skull. Her eye's flashed yellow and his foot stopped. It was being blocked by her barrier she had already set up as soon as the fight began. The red orb on her chest now glowing bright yellow.

"You think I wasn't prepared for a sneak attack by ninjas?" She pointed the handgun at the boy and shot him point-blank. This time a fountain of blood sprayed out and a real body hit the ground as he cried out in pain. Tanya spun and let off three shots at the bug boy as he ran at Ainz. Large black clouds appeared to intercept the bullets.

"A ranged fighter huh? Makes sense you'd have ranged defense then..." Tanya muttered as the boy with the dog slowly got to his feet. He was holding a bleeding shoulder and his dog was now in front of it's master growling.

"You let your emotions get the best of you kid... it's why you lost." Tanya said shaking her head. The boy dropped to all fours like an animal and growled at her...

"And you underestimated the Hidden lead Ninja... that is why YOU will lose!" He cried as he lunged at her while twirling his body in the air, the dog did the same and Tanya was suddenly looking down the barrel of twin swirling jets of wind and pressure.

"FANG OVER FANG JUTSU ATTACK!" the boy dried.

"You... what the hell..." Tanya looked at the strange attack. Her eye's flashed golden as she took straight up into the air as she used a basic magical evade maneuver. If this attack had been more than just a head-on charge the boy might have been okay, however...

BOOM!

A much louder explosion rang out as the boy and his dog charged headfirst into some grenades Tanya had left just before darting up into the air at speeds he could never hope to match. The smoldering bodies of the boy and his dog lay in the crater of Tanya's blast zone.

She smiled wickedly at how easy he was to predict... yet another soldier type she'd seen all too often, the one that charges headfirst as soon as you hurt the one he loves, painfully predictable.

"Hmmm... now to finish off the other one..." Tanya looked at the barely breathing body of the girl. She even noticed the boy was alive as well... these kids were tough if nothing else. Tanya aimed her handgun at the back of the head of the prone girl and fired.

"Eh?" Tanya was looking at just a small puddle of blood. To the side was a weird-looking boy. Bowl cut hair, bushy eyebrows and a more than determined look on his face.

The boy and the dog she had just beaten was also being covered by some girl in hair buns. She held two odd scrolls in her hands and had a nasty look in her eyes as she glared at Tanya.

"I'm sorry... but could you stop, you have won..." the boy in the green jumpsuit said as he held the unconscious body of Hinata. Tanya sneered.

"Reinforcements, huh?" She looked over at Ainz who had already defeated the weird bug boy. He had simply collapsed as soon as he got too close to Ainz... what kind of magic did he have access to that he could just take life so easily?

"Who might you be?" Ainz asked at another boy with the weird white eyes that the girl had. He seemed to be looking intesly at Ainz.

"W...What the hell are you?" the boy asked backing off.

"Oh? you can see through my deception?" Ainz said chuckling. The boy looked at the collapsed figure next to him.

"Do not worry... he isn't dead," Ainz said tot he boy. This seemed to have some effect on him.

"T...then can we just say you guys win... and call it at that?" the boy said tossing a scroll that said "earth" on it at Ainz who caught it and nodded.

"We have what we need then... you should take care of those two," Ainz said as he produced a weird jug. It sucked up all the beetles that the unconscious boy had on his body. The kid with shorts, white jacket, and weird white eyes clenched his teeth and rose his hands up in a similar stance the girl had used.

"Just collecting these bugs for a friend of mine..." Ainz said as he turned away and headed towards Tanya.

"We have the scroll Tanya... let's save it for later." Ainz said. Tanya holstered her handgun and gave an

"Humph!" If you say so... these kids are all to green anyway." She said as she flew down to meet Ainz.

"Who... just what village are you from?" The eldest boy with the white eyes asked. Ainz stopped and pointed at his headband.

"I am Ainz Ooal Gown of the Hidden Sorcerer Village, you would do well to remember us!" He said as they walked off into the forest.

Ainz and Tanya walked side by side in silence.

"We should have killed all of them," Tanya muttered while scowling at the ground. Ainz shook his head.

"You call them soldiers but I get the sense they are very much still in training... isn't there some rule against killing soldiers in training as they are still considered citizens?" Ainz asked. Tanya stopped walking.

"The second someone picks up a weapon for any purpose other than self-protection... they are a soldier for a cause bigger than themselves." She said. Ainz stopped and turned to face her.

"Killing children... simply does not..." But Tanya thrust her gun into his face, not by the barrel, but to the side so he could see the whole thing.

"Do you think this gun cares how old I am? Do think it will only take a life if I meet certain criteria?" She kept the gun in his face to show the question was not rhetorical. Ainz suddenly realized he was literally talking to a child soldier... something that was very easy to forget when talking to her... she seemed like a person well into her thirties.

"I get your point... and i have killed children with my very hands, but not... just for the fun of it..."

"Fun? You saw how they were looking at us after we crushed their friends? When we meet them again, they will no doubt have rallied more teams to their cause, and they will be fighting us on a personal level... that is when people begin committing willing suicide just to hurt a power greater than themselves..." Tanya spat. Ainz took in what she had to say... she reminded him of Demiurge so much it was scary.

"That may be true... but as a ruler, I do not shirk away from greater conflict... I meet it head-on," Ainz said looking at his hands.

"You mean you order your subordinates to attack it head-on? You create conflict, expecting the ones who follow you to die trying to make your goals true... tell me I am wrong?" She looked him straight into his lifeless eyes. he took what she had to say in.

"Perhaps... but it's not as if they don't die willingly... even if I've never lost a single real member of my land... many have died in my name. but they die knowing that what I offer is a better life... the life most humans live in my world is one of conflict and strife, but I've been able to alleviate these problems in my own neck of the woods... all who died in my name did so for a better life for the ones that come after them... there is no greater love for country or man than that."

Tanya stood in silence just blinking. While she had heard her own leader's utter garbage like this in the past... for some reason, this time, this single time, it all sounded true. She also realized how unfair she had been to Ainz...

"I'm sorry... you're right Ainz... You even join your soldiers on the front lines of battle, or else you would never be in thie world, to begin with... I am so used to foolish or inept rulers... I forgot there are actually some that are worth following..."

"You've been a soldier fighting for yourself this whole time... I am sorry about that," Ainz said acknowledging her side of the argument. they exchanged a glance of some understanding until...

"My... you two talk about the most intersting things!" A snake liek voice said from the shadows. Ainz and Tanya both spun around in surprise to see a man with long black hair a pale white slender face and a white robe. he had both his hands up in surrender.

"Who are you?" Ainz asked raising his hand and getting ready to cast a spell. The slender man hissed a laugh and shook his head.

"My name is Orochimaru, I have been following you since you got here... and I must say, I am fascinated by the two of you by no ends... even the things you speak about are fascinating." He said in a happy raspy voice. Ainz and Tanya exchanged glances.

"Orochimaru huh? Why reveal yourself to us?" Tanya asked, more than a little nervous that he'd been following them without their knowing the whole time.

"Becuase I know you aren't from this... world, which I will investigate later... but more so you seem to be ones I may be able to use, well... we can use each other..." he said laughing.

"Use each other? That almost sounds like your purposing a partnership..." Tanya said cocking an eye at the weird man. He thought for a second.

"I am not a fan of that particular word... but I think we can gain from helping each other..." he said, waiting for their answer.

"What can you offer us?" Ainz asked. and Orochimaru laughed.

"That was the one question I'd hoped you'd ask. Well for one, I can provide you real documentation for being in this event... the second you reach the tower and are seen by the judges and higher-ups your cover will be blown... but put these on... and you will be the surviving members of the Hidden Sound Village... my village." He handed them two headbands with musical notes on them, along with some papers.

"Show these to anyone who questions where you were in the first exam, it will show you simply changed appearances out here... something Ninja do all the time... and with those scrolls your free to enter the next stage of the event..." Orochimaru said with a wide smile.

"So what do you gain?" Tanya asked. Orochimaru looked at her and smiled again.

"I am not done listing off your benefits... you see I know why you are here... you want the Nine-tailed beast, do you not? Well, I will help you get both of the Tailed Beasts that are here..." He said as he lowered his arms.

"Both?"

"Yes, besides the Nine there is the One-tailed best competing in this event... as I have no use for either of these chakra monsters or the people they inhabit... it's a good match up for me to be with the two of you." He finished his pitch.

"Okay... and what do you gain from this?" Tanya asked the next obvious question.

"Destruction... The village that this event is taking place in... I wish to see it burn... and I get the feeling you could do this... very easily..." The slender man said looking right at Ainz.

"So... in exchange for your help I simply must reduce this one city to rubble?" Ainz asked. Orochimaru smiled and nodded.

"Almost sounds too good to be true..." Tanya said smiling back at the evil ninja. Ainz thought it over.

"Very well... I agree to these terms... as soon as both Tailed Beasts are in my possession... I will destroy The Village of The Hidden leaf." Ainz said shaking the hand of Orochimaru.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE: The next stage (The rookie teams are here! Where is team 3?)

Tanya and Ainz walked in silence, making their way to the tower that was dead center of the forest. With the help of Orochimaru that had everything, they would need to proceed to the next stage of the event. However...

"Four more days huh... to think this single-stage would go on for so long." Ainz said as they decided what to do. Showing up now would draw too much attention to themselves as they would be shattering the record by a huge amount... so they would let other teams get there first.

"This will give us time to get the Tailed Beasts, or Chakra Monsters... why do you want these things anyway?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow at Ainz.

"It's just in my nature to collect rare and wonderful things... and while I'm in this world I might as well take it for all it's worth," Ainz said shrugging.

"Are your enemies so strong you need them?" She asked seriously. Ainz chuckled and shook his head.

"No... in fact, I haven't met an enemy yet that can rival me in power... not even close, but to become complacent in that power is no doubt the only way I could ever lose." That answer suited her perfectly.

"So then... you are okay with destroying this village?" Ainz nodded.

"This is clearly a militarized nation... and I will announce my intentions before laying waste so that the civilians may escape and they will have a chance to rally against me. Tanya stared at him in some shock.

"You... are that confident that you could beat an entire army so easily?" She asked shaking her head. Ainz only nodded, he was not trying to boast about his power, this was simply him stating facts.

"I thought you could just rob people of life... so you have actual destructive magic then?" Tanya asked. Ainz again only nodded.

"Oh... here..." Ainz put out his hand.

"[CREATE GREATER MAGICAL ITEM]" A magical rifle like the one Shizu uses appeared in his hand. He handed it to Tanya.

"Here, to replace the once I destroyed, the ammunition is magical so you will never run out of rounds, plus..." he was explaining but Tanya's reaction tot he gun in her small hands was odd. Her eyes ran up and down it as she quickly inspected every facet of the rifle.

"Sniper setting as well as full and semi-automatic... the fire rate is... this gun is... probably the most amazing weapon I've ever seen in my life!" Tanya remarked. Ainz smiled.

"Oh is it? Really it's just a basic magic gun from my old world, we'd classify that weapon as 'below average'." He told her honestly. Tanya laughed as she kept looking at her new rifle.

"Well I see what you mean about nobody approaching your power... you would easily defeat my homeland in a war if this is your "below average" weaponry..."

"Well let's hope it never comes to that," he said honestly.

"Alright well... as for our mission then, it sounds like this "Naruto" isn't very strong, so he should be easy to beat..." Tanya said.

"Yeah, sounds like this "Gaara" might be trouble, and Naruto will be protected by a someone Orichimaru as asked us not to harm, Sasuke..." Ainz thought about the best way to go about this... luckily these kids won't be anything that he would call a threat.

"So we target Naruto first then?" Tanya asked as she looked around the forest and up in the trees to make sure they were not followed.

"We should just wait till the tournament, Orochimaru had promised both tailed monsters will be there... I want to see their capabilities before we make our move, so let's just wait for them to arrive at the tower then we will follow in the rest of the teams. Tanya nodded and yawned she was showing signs of fatigue. Ainz reached into his personal space and took out a ring, and offered it to Tanya. She took it and looked at it with curiosity.

"Wearing that ring will eliminate the need to eat or sleep, and you will never run out of stamina." He explained. She looked doubtful but as soon as she slipped it one her expression changed.

"This is... I will always feel this energized?" She asked amazed at the kind of magic Ainz had access to. He only nodded. This would make travel time bestter as she won't need to rest anymore.

"Yes, just don't lose it, those are very expensive." Tanya nodded and looked at it closer, it was made from metals she had never seen, just like the rifle he'd magically created.

Just then Ainz sensed all four of his Death Knights vanish. Tanya could tell there was a change in his body language.

"What is it?"

"My Death Knights... they were all taken out just now." Tanya frowned.

"How strong are they? Is this unexpected?"

"No... they aren't terribly powerful, but losing all four at once means they ran into a large force or a strong individual." Ainz said, Tanya just nodded silently.

"Well if we have nothing to do for a couple of days then we should find a secured position and wait it out... walking around and talking like this is a good way to get into a needless fight." Tanya suggested as she kept her eyes looking for seak attacks.

"I was thinking the same thing, I figured we could at least get close to the tower first, once it's in view of us..." Ainz stopped talking and Tanya readier her new rifle and looked around.

"It seems a pointless battle has already found us... someone is trying to hypnotize us, it's a sleep spell," Ainz said chuckling and waving his hand att he unseen enemy. Tanya blinked and saw the one who Ainz was talking about. A man dressed in all black was making those weird hand movements.

"This is just really too easy... ya know?" Ainz said to himself as he reached out and cast [GRASP HEART] the man died immediately. For whatever reason, it would seem their 'wood clone death save' spell did not work against his [GRASP HEART] that was very convenient for him. When the generic-looking ninja die two of his friends tried falling back, they were probably the follow-up attack once he put them to sleep with that spell.

"I got this." Tanya said as she activated the 'silencer' option on the gun Ainz gave her. After two muffled pops shot out bot men fell to the ground. the fleeing man on the left was shot through the back of his neck, shattering his spin, His partner went down as a bullet entered the back of his head.

Ainz and Tanya exchanged a nod and moved deeper in. It wasn't long till they could see the tower, it loomed high above the surrounding area. They found an area that had good vision and cover and settled to simply wait a couple of days.

It was weird for Tanya at first to not sleep or eat, she almost wished she could sleep to pass the time faster, but that would be foolish and even dangerous. So they simply waited. they even saw some teams make their way to the tower.

One team, in particular, caught Ainzes eye and he pointed them out. Two boys and a girl. One poy was dressed in black and was carrying something large on his back that was wrapped up. The girl ws blond and had a huge fan, then the boy. He looked to be the youngest and had a large Gord on his back.

"That is Gaara, the one with the "one-tailed best"..." Ainz said in Tanya's mind. Tanya readied her gun but Ainz shook his head. He cast [MESSAGE] to her so he could talk to her silently.

"I still want to see what they are capable of... we have our cover intact so we'll ride that out." She nodded that she understood and stood down.

After another day of waiting and more teams began funneling into the tower they decided it was time for them to go as well.

But upon entering there was nobody there, no teams, no officials, nothing.

"This is weird, right?" Tanya asked looking around and reading a poem about heaven and earth on the wall.

"I think we can open those scrolls here now." She said reading the badly written poem. Ainz nodded and handed one to her. They each nodded and opened the scroll. There was the Kanji for "man" with a circle around it. Immediately some kind of magic activated. Ainzand Tanya both threw them on the ground and took a step back.

"Is is a trap?" Tanya asked but suddenly there appeared a man from where the scrolls were. He looked at them curiously.

"Who... I don't remember you two..." He especially looked at Tanya who was wearing her military uniform still, but fressing weird was something this world was used to and he gave her not a second look.

"We are from the uh, hidden sound village, we changed to our true forms in the forest," Ainz said. He eyed Ainz suspiciously as well.

"True form huh? Well if you want to stay in disguise, that's fine. Anyway, I am here to explain the next stage of the exam. Go up those stairs to join the rest of the teams, the next stage will be held there." He made a hand symbol and the door opened. Ainz and Tanya walked past him and up the stairs to the door.

Before long they were in a huge room, in front of a massive statue that kind of reminded Ainz and Tanyta of Buddha. There was an area cleared, probably for the tests, and the rest of the teams were there. They saw the three that had daved their friends from death earlier, they gave Tanya hard looks.

Toward the front was a line of stronger looking ninja nad in the center of the cleared area was an elderly man in white robes and a large white and red hat. Ainz knew his face from the mans memories, he was currently the most powerful man in the village and it's leader... a "Hokage" he was called. Ainz would have to be careful around him, he might have the ability to put up a decent fight.

Ainz and Tanya took a line behind the rest of the participants, trying to remain in the back as much as possible. All various members looked around trying to figure out who made it and who did not. Ainz realized that besides his team, the one-tailed team and one other, everyone here had a leaf on their headbands.

Ainz looked and saw the boy with white eyes looking intently at them. He had probably spread the news about them to the rest of his team, if not village... Tanya might have been right. Then Ainz's eyes settled on a man who was smirking. It was Orochimaru in disguise. He gave the two of them slight nods. So he would work to keep their cover intact eh?

"Congratulations on passing the second exam!" The elderly Hokage said. many of the ones lined up behind him gave the kids proud looks, those must be their teachers maybe? The one in a green jumpsuit seemed p[articulry proud of the one younger one that looked like him, clearly father and son.

One of them was a female with strange red eyes and she was also looking intently at Ainz and Tanya. She might be the sensei of the three Ainz and Tanya crushed earlier. A girl with pink hair and a red dress was looking around.

"Hey, Naruto... I don't see Hinata, Kiba and Shino here..." The girl whispered to a boy with an orange suit and spikey blonde hair. Ainz smiled...

"I heard they got wiped out by those sound ninja we fought..." A boy standing next to them in a blue shirt and white pants said. that looked to be the one Orochimaru wanted, the one called Sasuke.

"That is Naruto, our other target..." Ainz whispered to Tanya who nodded.

"The Hokage will now explain the next stage of the exam, listen up!" A strict female voice called out. The Hokage, who was smoking an old fashion tobacco pipe walked up with a proud smile. After clearing his throat he spoke to the group.

"Before all that, there is one thing I would like to say. there is a deeper pirp[ose to these exams that I will tell you... why do you think allied nations conduct this conjoint basis?" Ainz did think it was weird that they would invite rival nation into their town... when secrecy was supposed to be the top priority of any ninja...

"Raising the rank and level of Shinobi and allied nations together is also a way to determine future strength of the nations we ally with... meaning, this is a way to play out small power struggles between nations... if you perform poorly here and bring shame upon your nation, it will be remembered by the rival nations more than your own... we will remember your weakness... but, like wise... show your power and bring honor to yourself and your homeland... the same is true."

Ainz looked at the faces of the kids... they were staring intently at these words.

"In short, however, since we are allies... this is a way to gauge the military power of our allies without actually lowering it, in case of attack from our enemies." Ainz could tell this was another world in turmoil. A militarized world like this would only tear itself apart unless they could unite against a common enemy someday. A role he knew all too well.

"But now, we use this as a friendly test to rank up the lower level ninja to their next rank... should they succeed." the old man finished explaining.

"That makes no sense... isn't this just a test gramps?" Naruto yelled out. Even Ainz was shocked by the lack of respect this twerp showed the leader of his village. Many people shook their heads or facepalmed, apparently, naruto was known to be an idiot.

"He is explaining how just these tests go back hundreds of years you idiot!" the pink-haired girl in his team scolded Naruto, who scratched the back of his head, still not understanding.

"But it's even more than that Sakura... you see, people who hire shinobi are also privy to these exams, so your future as someone who receives work for your land is also being tested here... in short, these exams are probably the most important moment of our allied ninja nations and your young lives, until your actual day as working shinobi becomes realized."

"Then why allow children to kill one another if this is just a test?" Tanya spoke out. Ainz looked at her in surprise, they had agreed to remain hidden... but asking questions liek this might actually make them seem less conspicuous. The man took no offense to Tanya's question, he simply took a long drag from his pipe before speaking.

"If one is not fighting for their very lives, one can not expect to see the true depths of one's power and strength." Tanya nodded with a satisfied smile, that answer seemed to suit her.

"This is a custom of preserving balance and maintaining power... if you don't spill blood for your village, how can we call you warriors? And promoting to a true warrior is the outward point of this exam is it not?"

"That's fine... then just let us get on to this spilling of blood, all this talking is annoying..." Gaara said in a low and menacing voice. The old Hokage just nodded as he put his pipe back in his mouth.

"Very well... let me then explain the next event... and the third part of these exams. Because there are simply too many of you left, we will be having a mini-tournament of one against one combat... in short, we will be cutting this group in half through a process of elimination. You each will be given an opponent, the winner goes on, the loser does not... it's that simple." Upon hearing those words the group once again looked each other over... more sizing everyone up than anything else. The unhurt Gaara, Tanya nd Ainz seemed to garner a lot of attention form the remaining members, who looked like they had been through hell.

"So in fact, this is not the third stage of the exam, just one to get ready for it... and it begins now... if you are too tired or injured then now is the time to drop out..." he said eyeing the young contestants. While most looked worried or annoyed... one bowed out.

"Excuse me, but I will quit." A leaf ninja with white hair and glasses said.

"K...Kabuto!" naruto exclaimed loudly. A man with a bad cough and clipboard looked through the names.

"I see (cough) Kabuto Yakushi of the Hidden leaf, correct? Very well, you may step back then." the man said. Kabuto bowed and walked off, giving a look to Naruto, they had an exchange about him dropping out, it seemed the two were good friends... well that benefitted Ainz, the fewer protectors around the tailed beasts, the better. However, Kabuto gave Ainz a very brief look that conveyed a lot... he was an ally to Orochimaru, not Naruto...

"I see... so I am not the only "undercover agent" this Orichimaru is employing... he must really want this Sasuke... and the destruction of this militarized city..." The fact that this nation and world was so focused on military might and strength honestly made the decision to destroy it very easy...

"Then if there are no others... " the man with the cough was saying but naruto and Sasuke started squabbling over something the girl said, she seemed to concerned with a weird mark on Sasuke's neck... but he rebuked her concern which made Naruto angry.

"Honestly, are these kids still really just kids?" Tanya scoffed at this outburst of emotion. Ainz shook his head.

"Maybe they are just worn out from the forest... but some of them don't seem very disciplined..." Ains shook his head. It made his appreciate how mature Aura, mare, and Bella always were... he couldn't wait to get back to them...

"Then... I will explain the rules and the matches..."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: Weeding out the weak (Friends and enemies clash... a battle of wills!) PART 1

"Now then... up there on the wall behind me will appear two names, they are selected at random. When the names are chosen, please step to this area to begin the fight." The elderly man simply stated and finally stepped off to the side. The electronic board shuffled the names. After a brief wait two names appeared.

Yorio Akodo vs. Sasuke Uchiha

There was a low mummer from the contestants. Many looked at his obvious injuries, plus he was suffering from something else it looked like to Ainz. At any rate, Sasuke did not look like he was in any condition to fight. But he took the stage with no hesitation.

His opponent was a man in all black, even his eyes were covered with black specs and his face covered with a mask, he actually looked like what Ainz would call a ninja. he did not seem to be very hurt, he was old and the obvious favorite to win. Ainz looked at Orochimaru who was in disguise and standing right along with side his mortal enemies, the Hidden Leaf elite.

The man with the cough walked to the center of the two as they stood facing each other.

"The first match will be Yorio Akodo and Sasuke Uchiha, do either of you object to this fight?" the judge with the cough asked.

"None." They both answered simultaneously.

"Okay, can all noncombatants move to the upper area to watch and wait your turn." The group of hopeful ninja all walked up some stairs and looked down

"So... how will you fight?" Tanya whispered to Ainz as she saddled up next to him.

"If you're asking me if I will use magic in these fights, then no. I won't need to. I have plenty of hand to hand training to look liek I know what I'm doing. What about you?" Tanya shook her head.

"Apparently they don't have guns in this world, so I'm already at a huge advantage." Tanya chuckled as she looked at her handgun.

"I see, well as I understand it fighting styles and equipment is kept a secret from other villages, unknown weapons are not weird in fights like this I guess," he muttered while thinking on something.

"Yes, I came to the same conclusion... none of these brats seem to be using the same 'ninja art', at least not the ones we've seen." Her eyes looked at the one named Neji. He had the same weird pale white eyes that the girl Tanya shot had, they could possibly be related.

The two ninjas took fighting stances, Yorio made the first move.

"Let's go..." he challenged Sasuke as he made one of those ju-jitsu hand gestures. His hands began t glow with a soft blue aura.

"What's with that guy's hands?" Tanya asked out loud, but nobody seemed to know, or want to explain. The younger one, Sasuke quickly hurled several ninja stars at the man who was doing the same with throwing knives. The projectile weapons collided in the air with the sound of metal on metal and sparks flew.

But for some reason, Sasuke grabbed his neck and fell to the ground.

"He's really hurt if just making an attack like that drops him..." Tanya scoffed. Airs looked at the injured boy.

"There seems to be more than that... he's always grabbing the same spot, but there is no injury there. Could be a broken bone or an effect of some ninja art." After Ainz said this Tanya looked closer at his neck.

"You're right! there's a weird glowing mark on his neck where he keeps grabbing at..." She remarked quietly.

"Yes, and Whatmore, that is the one Oricimaru wants, yet look... he's actually been smiling this whole time." Ainz pointed out casually.

"I see, so you think Orcimaru is to blame and wants the boy to lose?"

"Who knows, I'd be surprised if our "partner" wasn't keeping something from us as well," Ainz remarked as the older ninja tried to punch Sasuke while he was on the ground, but he managed to spring away and avoid damage.

"You think Orochimaru will try and betray us?" Ainz nodded.

"Probably, he knows he can't beat us... so having us work for him is the best he could come up with, but I'm sure he's looking for a weakness he can exploit in us," Ainz whispered to his partner as the two ninjas were on the ground, locked in a kind of arm and leg wrestling match.

"I see... so we should not reveal what we're caple of..." Tanya said nodding in agreement.

"At least not out trump cards..."

"What about when you destroy the village? Won't he see your strongest spell then?" She asked. Ainz almost made a laughing sound but only shook his head.

"I have many ways I could wipe this village and it's inhabitants off the face of this world... none of them I would call "my strongest" spell," He said chuckling slightly. Tanya blinked in amazement.

By now the older ninja had broken Sasuke's arms hold. His hand seemed to drain the strength of the boy whenever he made contact. He used this time to punch Sasuke in the chest and roll away.

"I see, the older one is using a form of [DRAIN TOUCH]... not only does it inflict damage but it heals or restores your mana... only about a 3rd tier spell... still so weak," Ainz said as he watched the fight.

Sasuke squirmed on the ground and writhed like he was in pain... the older one jumped away and prepared his next attack. He dashed at the downed ninja as his hand lit up again with the draining ability he possessed. Sasuke was too injured and strained to move, and the man grabbed his head.

"Yaar!" Sasuke cried out in pain as he fell tot he ground.

"It's over..." Tanya said with a smile. But Ainz looked at Orcimaru who was intently watching the fight with an even more pleasing expression. But somehow Sasuke managed to rally enough strength to kick the ninja off of him

"He's got fight left in him... but i don't see why Orichimarua wants that kid so bad..."

"You think he could be more powerful than the tailed beasts?" Tanya asked looking at Ainz a bit surprised. Ainz just stroked his chin as he looked on at the fight. Sasuke was on the defensive still as the older ninja chased him down with his hand swipes.

"SASUKE! YOU CAN DO IT!" A shrill voice yelled out. It was the boy's partner, and Ainzes target, Naruto. Even though Naruto was cheering for him Sasuke only returned a look of annoyance. The enemy ninja's hands took on the same bright glow as he raced at Sauke in an attempt to finish him...

"Idiot... he's already lost..." Tanya said looking at the Ninja with glowing hands. She was right, he was too overconfident and his final attack missed as Sasuke ducked, fell to his back and kicked his enemy in the chest with enough force to send him flying straight up into the air.

"Guuuah!" The man cried out as his limp body flew up like a rag doll. Sasuke sprang in the air to meet him in the air, after unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches mid-air he swung his foot above then down like a swinging ax kick, spiking the man into the ground. Ainz could hear the mans ribcage shatter even from up high.

Both of the fighters lay on the ground unmoving.

"Then it's a draw?" Ainz asked in surprise. But Sasuke showed signs of life, and slowly got to his feet. The ref walked to the older one who wasn't moving.

"He's done... Sasuke passes and moves on to the third stage." He simply said.

"YAHOO!" The loud annoying ninja naruto yelled out. Sasuke was escorted away by a strong looking ninja who had spiked silver hair and his headband pulled over of his eyes, he looked to be Sasuke's mentor by the way they talked. A glance at Orochimaru made it clear he did not favor the outcome of the fight... or this silver-haired ninja.

After Sasuke and his mentor had left Orichimaru slunk away with a frown. Ainz nudged Tanya to inform her of Ochimaru's actions.

"He's probably making his play..."

"Indeed... when he has what he wants, that's when we have to be careful," Ainz said and she nodded.

"And if he's defeated?" Tanya asked. Ainz shrugged.

"I already am in a position to grab both the tailed beasts... I'm just being cautious... so if our covers is blows... get far away from me... I'll grab them and we'll leave." He said in a dreadfully serious tone. It made her nervous and swallowed.

"Leave? What does that mean for me? Will you send me back?" She asked.

"well, It was never my intention to even summon you, so I cannot guarantee you that I can return you home... but if you wish, I could guarantee you a place in Nazarick... you'd want for nothing and live any life you wanted, um so long as you never speak about me being human... that's a weird subject." He offered. Oddly enough she remained quiet and did not offer him an answer.

The next match was already being decided. The screen read two more unfamiliar names.

Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro.

Another generic-looking ninja from the same team as the one who just lost stood across from the one in a black suit that was with Gaara. As soon as the referee began the match, Misumi, the generic-looking ninja ran at Kankuro at full speed.

"Is he an idiot? Who charges in like that without knowing their opponent's abilities first?" Ainz shook his head, how someone liek that got this far was beyond him. Kankuro threw the large wrapped object he was carrying on his back next to him. The aggressive ninja threw a fast but basic punch which Kankuro managed to block easily.

"Hmm? Look at his legs and arms..." Tanya muttered as the ninja's arms and legs stretched out to twice their normal length and wrapped around Kankuro, holding him in a five limb lock, even his neck had an arms wound around it. The unexpected attack made Kankuro lose hold of his weapon, it fell to the ground.

"So, it's over so early? He really was an idiot..." Ainz said shaking his head and losing interest in the fight. Tanya saw what Ainz was talking about. The ninja then broke the neck of Kankuro, his head hanging limply before him. He laughed, clearly thinking he'd won.

"Who would fall for that?" Tanya asked in disgust. If a solder under her command was that dumb he'd be dead in the first week... they must not train their soldiers very hard in this world. The wrapped up object that Kankuro dropped began to move and a hand popped out. The "dead" Kankuro's head spun around to meet it's attacker, it was a large doll, or puppet. The doll's arms stretched out and wrapped around the man who was wrapped around it.

"Those strings he's using to use the puppet... they are using that same "chakra" stuff..." Tanya remarked thinking about something.

"Indeed, it seems that's the one thing that these arts share, they all use this chakra and not mana..."

"Mana? What's that?" Tanya asked. Ainz looked at her in shock.

"You don't use a resource to use your magic?" She looked at him confused.

"No, I just channel my energy through this stone and I can harness my natural magical ability, but it's strain is only in my body... like running, it wears me out, but it's just stamina, nothing like mana or chakra." She explained.

By now the man had been crushed, but he seemed to mostly alive. This Kankuro fellow wasn't out for blood it seemed. Or he felt bad for how dumb his opponent was, it did not matter it was over and Kankuro moved on to the next stage as announced by the ref.

"What about that spell you used when we fought? It was... very powerful, don't tell me you can just fire that off all you like?" Ainz asked in surprise. Tanya shook scowled at the ground.

"No, that particular spell... comes from Go... Being X."

"Wait, the same one that put you in that body and you hate? He's the reason you can use that spell?" Ainz asked a tad confused.

"We have a complicated relationship... yes, most of my power comes from him but..." She looked at the strange rifle and ring Ainz had given her and a dastardly smile crossed her face.

The wall was already announcing the next match...

Sakura Haruno vs. Yamanaka

After a bit, two young female ninjas took the stage. Sakura was the one who Naruto was always talking to, a team member of his. She had pretty pink hair and a red kung-fu style dress. Her opponent was much prettier and had blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and wore a traditional purple Kunochi or female ninja, garb. The way the two glared at each other must mean they had history.

The two broke out into a fast flurry of punches and kicks more akin to karate than ninja arts, nether showed any signs of trickery or weapon use.

"Why are ninja fighting this way? They are more like... monks? I see, so there is also a "monk type class" among these ninjas that use mostly physical combat? Interesting" Ainz said taking note of the traditional punches and strikes the two women threw at one another.

"Maybe they are just looking for a chance to use their ninja art?" Tanya offered, Ainz only shrugged. This tournament was a great way to learn about this world's combat systems...

The fight was strongly favoring the blond girl, who had Sakura on the metaphorical ropes. Then the blond ninja punched the pink-haired one in the gut, making her vomit. She doubled over, dropping her guard. Yamanaka had a clear shot to her face and went to end the fight.

"It's over so fast..." Tanya remarked. But a strange sound rang out. Not that of fist breaking face but of skin hissing skin. Yamanaka had open hand slapped the face of Sakura instead of delivering the finishing blow. Tanya burst out into laughter as the contestants looked at the girls and then at Tanya in shock.

But the way the two simply stood there looking at one another meant it wasn't meant to be an insult as Tanya has thought. Instead, they simply stood looking at one another.

"What the hell is this now?" Tanya scoffed. Ainz thought that despite being female, she really had no female compassion. Even he could see these two were friends forced to fight... it must be tough for them, he thought. They exchanged some words, mostly insults to try and rial the other up.

"What's the point in hurling insults back and forth like that?" Tanya said, rolling her eyes. Ainz smiled inwardly.

"They are trying to get the other to fight seriously... oh I think it worked," He said as the look and body language of the two young ninja girls changed. They both tied their headbands to their proper place, over the forehead. The look at each other meant it was serious from here on out.

"Seems stupid." She said not getting it.

"Have you never had a fight with a close friend? It's hard..." Tanya looked at Ainz in surprise.

"No... I've never had a "close friend" to have a fight with, attachments to people and friends are only a burden..." She said looking away. I see we are very different people even if we both came from japan... he mentally clicked his tongue at the gap between Tanya and himself.

The two spirted females charged with loud screamed and blasted each other in the face with a straight punch. They both were staggered and fell to a knee, exchanged glares and got back up to their feet.

"When friends fight... it's not about skill or strength... it's spirit." Ainz explained.

"EH? Spirit? What are you on about?" She was now looking at him openly shocked.

"When you fight with a friend... you have to win, the fight must be for a reason... yet you want to remain, friends, so you must pit your sprit against theirs... a purely physical battle will not cut it between real friends." He was talking to Tanya but they looked at their fellow contestants, most were nodding approvingly at the speech Ainz had given. He looked away, slightly embarrassed he's been heard.

The girls repeated the head-on charge, with more energy and power. Once again they hit each other int he face at the same time, but the force sent both of their frail bodies flying away from the impact.

"It just looks like two idiots taking needless damage... I don't get it." Tanya scoffed yawning as if she were bored by this spirited display of willpower. The blonde ninja took out her dagger and suddenly removed her hair, cutting off her ponytail and yelling at Sakura about something from their past.

"I'll take control of you Sakura... I'll force you to admit defeat!" The blonde ninja said.

"I know that ability Ino... you will never hit me with it... this just proves you can't win... the fool." Sakura said shaking her head.

"No, I will hit this and make you forfeit idiot!" Ino yelled back.

"If you miss, it's over... I will beat your unconscious body without mercy!" Sakura said laughing at the free win she was about to receive.

"Hmm... I a high-risk attack? Mind control? That's far stronger than these kids should be capable of... if thats true this is the highest tier "spell" i've seen in this world..." Ainz muttered. Tanya became interested in the fight once more.

"Mind control? Is that a thing?" Ainz nodded.

"Yes, I have that ability but..." he was saying but the girls made their move. Sakura dashed to one side kicking up a bunch of hair Ino had thrown about when she cut off her long blonde ponytail. She used her skill and both girls stopped. Ainz looked at both of them wondering if she had landed the attack.

"You missed... now I will..." Sakura said with a smile as the unconscious body of Ino slumped to the ground.

"So she los... wait, no..." Tanya saw it before the others... a single blue glow ran around Sakura's feet. It was made by Ino's hair and looked to be that chakra stuff again.

"It was a feint? isn't that underhanded in a fight between friends?" Tanya asked as she realized Sakura had fallen for the trap. All that talk was to set up this feint, something only a friend, who would let you chat it up int he middle of a fight, would do.

"She took advantage of their friendship to pull off a plan to achieve victory... I take it back, I like this Ino girl!" Tanya said clapping and laughing at the betrayal. Ainz shook his head in disagreement.

"No, pulling your punches against a friend is disrespectful... coming at someone with everything you have... is a true sign of respect," Ainz told his partner, thinking about a lone knight standing against a god amidst a devastated battlefield.

"Mind transfer Jutsu!" Ino yelled out as the true spell was cast. She held up her hands and pointed them at the tethered Sakura who was trying to move desperately. Again, both girls slumped over... but it wasn't long till Sakura began laughing in victory.

"I... I give..." Sakura said raising her hand. The ref looked at her in surprise.

"Hmm, what did you say?" he asked. But "Sakura" began to tremble and lowered her hand... she was resisting the effects of the ninja art.

"Never mind... if the spell can still be resisted after all that setup... it's a worthless skill." Ainz said, clicking his tongue. He had planned on grabbing that Ino girl as well for that skill, but there was no reason to now...

"Release!" Sakura said and Ino began to stir once more.

"Looks like she resisted it... after all that, what a letdown..." Tanya said rolling her eyes... she clearly had been rooting for the blonde one. Ainz smiled at Sakura's will... he understood more about this fight than Tanya. The girls got up and raised their fists... they clearly planned to contuine the frontal assault battle from earlier... but they were both hurt and worn out, this would be the deciding attack.

The girls clashed and hit each other with enough force to knock one another out... they both fell over, unable to fight. the ref looked them over and declared it a draw, both would be eliminated.

"the blonde could have won that early... they should award her the win... if this were a point system..." Tanya said clicking her tongue in annoyance. Ainz secretly wondered if this outcome was the one needed to keep them friends... well it wouldn't matter, they would probably both be dead by his hands soon.

He looked at Garra and Naruto as they hauled off the unconscious ninja girls. Naruto was oblivious and was he was only concerned about his teammate Sakura. Gaara however, immediately locked eyes with Ainz and returned a hostile cold gaze... he was oozing with confidence, this Gaara must be strong indeed. Ainz smiled. Gaara was clearly the stronger of the two... he'd be the priority.

Soon the fight screen showed two more names...

Tenten vs. Temari

The blonde girl with the huge fan on her back readied herself to fight the one Tanya had wanted to kill in the forest. She looked to be wearing a traditional Chinese garb with matching hair buns. The girl with the fan, Temari, was the other one escorting Gaara and wore a simple white robe that ended at her knees. Ainz was glad he'd get to see all the abilities of the guards of his prey.

They looked at each other... Temari seemed less hurt and far more confident. Tenten looked nervous and had been through a few fights already it seemed.

"Begin!" the ref announced. Tenten took the initiative and jumped up in the air, throwing several shurikens. her attacks were dodged so effortlessly, it seemed Temari had barely even moved.

"The girl from the forest, this... Tenten... she's done for, her opponent is far too strong for her..." Tanya realized this as did Ainz.

"Yes... I'd place this Tenten around level... 10 or so, at best... Temari is easily 20... this fight is over," Ainz said now just hoping to see some attacks from Temari.

"Was that it? Or are you just warming up? Don't tell me you were trying to hit me?" Temari called out in an overly mocking tone and smug smile. the provocation worked and the weaker ninja grabbed some scrolls from her back.

"So easy... she was taunted into using her best attack that easily? This Tenten is the weakest one I've seen here..." Ainz said shaking his head at the mismatch in power between the two girls.

"Maybe Temari will feel like toying around with her and we'll get to see some of her ninja arts..." Tanya said nodding. Ainz knew a few women back home that would do just that...

Temari jumped into the air as the scroll she pulled out spun around her like a ribbon dancer. Temari simply stood, confidently awaiting the big attack she knew was coming. She spun faster and faster as a hail of bladed weapons descended down at the bored female ninja like a deadly rain.

"More of the same?" Tanya shook her head in disappointment. As expected, Temari barely had to use any effort to avoid this all-out attack. Tenten stood amazed and confused at how easily her attack had been avoided.

"Okay, so you're ready to get seriouse now? I'll wait..." Temari said with that same smug smile.

"Just give up! You've hopelessly outmatched, idiot!" Tanya called out at Tenten. The unexpected insult caught the ninja girls' attention and she looked back ay Tanya with anger. Tanya just looked at her with the same smug smile she had when she was about to kill the ninja and his dog.

She glared at Tanya and turned to face the female ninja Temari. However, a huge gust of wind was already blasting, and shredding the body of the weaker ninja, she had taken her eyes off the enemy and paid for it... The chakra infused gale wind lifted Tenten into the air, spinning her helpless form around as blood and clothes spun off of her. She was locked in a tornado attack that Ainz would rate around 4th tier in power... not bad at all for one so young.

"Descend..." Temari said as she held her large fan upright. Tentens near-naked and limp body came crashing down, her spine landing on the upper fan. She stayed there, bent backward over the fan as blood ran down her mouth and body... she was in critical condition.

"The winner..." the ref was saying, but Temari kicked The unconscious girl's body away, and across the battlefield. The one Tanya had seen earlier, with the bushy eyebrows and green jumpsuit moved faster than she could track and somehow caught the crumpled and near-dead body of Tenten in his arms. he glared angrily at Temari and then at Tanya. He only received smug smiled from each of them.

"Nice catch!" Temari tauntingly said.

"Why are you trying to kill her... you didn't need to take it that far!" The weird boy with a bowl cut hairstyle yelled in anger. Temari just turned to rejoin her team.

"You're all so annoying... take that trash out of my sight..." She said as she laughed slightly.

"the weak die... that's why," Ainz muttered to himself. In reality that tenten girl has no business fighting alongside these actually skilled opponents.

"She should just go home,e and raise a family... she isn't suited to fight." Tanya spat... yet another failed soldier. After they cleaned up the flighting floor a bit... The wall read the next fight.

Shikamaru Nara vs. Ainz Ooal Gown

Ainz looked at his name and wondered if Orochimaru had something do with him becoming official... it did not matter. An annoyed looking youth walked with his hands in his pockets of his brown baggy pants. He wore just a simple jacket. Ainz stood up and walked to his spot opposite the young man.

"SHIKAMARU! DON'T LOSE! SHO US YOU'RE A REAL MAN" Ino called out from her spectator's spot with her team. he seemed increasingly annoyed at her constant cheering for him.

"GO FOR IT!" She yelled out even louder. Ainz couldn't but help but smile at her energy and support for her friend... it reminded him of way back when Bukubukuchagama would call out support for Ainz and her brother Peroroncino when they would duel...

"So... I hear you're kind of scary..." Shikamaru said to Ainz.

"Maybe... so let's see what you can do... I'll give a free shot, I promise not to dodge or counter your first attack... deal?" Ainz said, opening his hands as if he were trying to sell a car.

"That's very nice of you... but I don't believe you for a sec..." Shikamaru was saying as Ainz turend his back to the ninja.

"Free shot... go for it," Ainz said and waited.

"Well then... let's see if you're a man of your word... but you'll lose if you are, ya know?" Shikamaru said taking his stance.

"That would be most intersting..." is all Ainz said.

"Very well... begin!" The ref announced. Shikamaru immediately used his ability.

"Ninja Art, shadow possession Jutsu!" His shadow stretched across the floor unnaturally, making contact with Ainzes shadow. Shikamaru smirked a bit as he let out a breath.

"Seemed you are a man of your word, but..." He was saying as Ainz turned around to face him, moving of his own free will.

"Oh? Did you use your ability already? What does it do?" He asked looking at the shocked Ninjka would was looking at their connecting shadows,

"H...How... you should not be able to freely move that this..." he stated in shock as sweat began to bead on his forehead.

"Oh is that it? Simple C.C. (crowd control)? Sorry but I'm immune to anything that restricts my movement..." Ainz explained.

"Right... I surrender." Shikamaru said raising his hand and walking away.

"What? Shikamaru are you seriouse?" Ino yelled out. He stopped and shrugged with an annoyed sigh.

"All my plans were to get him in my shadow... I only made 32 plans if he avoided all of them... and only one if he were somehow immune. It was to give up so he does not kill me easily." he admitted and went to join his team. Ainz was surprised by how much he didn't care about the loss.

"Okay, by the surrender of his opponent, Ainz Ooal Gown wins and is promoted to the next stage." the ref said as Ainz went to sit next to Tanya. She said nothign to him about the "fight". They only waited for the next fight to be announced...

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Tanya von Degurechaff

"Well, it seems it's finally my turn..." Tanya remarked with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**AU note= As it seemed people didn't like the pacing of my last chapter I've decided to cut the next 2 chapters as well as 4 other later chapters that had similar battles/themes and their resulting sub-story threads.**

**I'll be writing the main plot for the volume and cutting the subplots that were "Naruto themed" as such, this chapter might seem "forced and/or rushed" but I just wanted to get to the stuff I think people will want to read. Because of this the volume will be much shorter than I intended but should have better pacing overall after this weird transition chapter.**

**I Apologize in advance... I wanted more buildup and wanted to use certain Naruto characters more but I guess that's not what people wanted so I am sacrificing it/them for pacing and story structure. -DDDGGG**

CHAPTER FIVE: Ainz Ooal Gown vs. Jiraiya (Naruto is taken and a new enemy of The Leaf reveals himself)

Tanya stood smirking across from the brat named Naruto. Ainz had asked her to try and "tease out" this tailed beast of his then make a big enough scene that Ainz could swoop in and grab him during the aftermath. Until then... she would have fun with this welp.

"Hey... before I came out here... someone told me you hurt Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru," Naruto said, his voice was trembling with anger he was trying to hold back. Tanya smiled, he was already pissed, this would be easier than expected.

"Hmm, I guess, honestly I wanted to kill them, but my current boss said not to, so you should really be thanking him," She shrugged like his feeling didn't matter to her.

"But why? Why would you go that..." his soft angry voice was suddenly interrupted by a loud one, Tanya's.

"WHY? Are you that dumb? Hope many other soldiers died taking this test? How many will die after passing it? If you can't understand WHY someone would kill another in battle... then WHY are you even here? You're just pretending to play soldier, probably to fit in or something stupid liek that..." She openly scoffed him, but her words cut deep and he was snapped out of his rage and looked at her.

"See? I was right? Who are you trying to impress by playing soldier? Your mommy? Your Daddy? That stupid pink-haired girl you obviously love? Which is it?" She laughed but in a cruel manner. Naruto hung his head down, drops of tears hit the ground.

"Everyone..." he muttered.

"Eh? What? What did you say?" She cupped her hand to her ear in an exaggerated motion. He looked up at her and in the eyes, tears still coming but his face was filled with determination.

"EVERYONE! I'm doing this to show EVERYONE I am good enough to be in this village!" He announced loudly. Tanya could almost understand that notion, but this child was too dumb for her to relate to.

"Okay then, ref... I'm ready." She said. The ref nodded and looked at Naruto who also nodded.

"Okay then, begin..." as soon as he announced the start of the fight Naruto charged at her in a weird running manner, with his arms behind him... a terrible battle stance. Tanya's eyes flared yellow as she used magic to physically enhance her body.

Instead of attacking the boy made a hand symbol.

"Shadow clone Jutsu!" several puffs appeared around him and suddenly around eight clones of his were charging along with him, hiding the real one.

"Intersting... Lord, give me strength and understanding so that I may strike down any who would oppose my Father Land... amen." She looked at all the charging enemies, she could not tell which one was the real one. But a yellow surge flowed over her new rifle and fired a close-range shatter shot.

"WWWUAA!" Naruto and everyone else in the arena cried out as several magically infused explosions ripped the area before into fire and impacting explosions. The attack made the referee jump back for safety. The whole floor they held the fights on shook and the walls cracked. When the dust settled before were only a series of craters made in a line leading away from her, the entire arena had been destroyed.

"Hmm?" Tanya dropped her rifle and took out her close-quarters combat knife in a single motion. She waited for a second or two, glancing at the ground then suddenly swung the blade upward. She caught the real naruto coming in from above her with her blade. She drove it into his should and slammed him into the ground with a surprising amount of force. She could hear some bones of his break.

"Geeaaaahh!" He cried out in pain as blood splashed over his chest and her face. She pinned him to the ground smiling sadistically.

"Coming in from above is one of my favorite techniques. But in the future, you should know something... when you come from above like that, your body casts a shadow, so never do it on someone who is on the ground." She smiled and roughly pulled out her knife.

Unexpetantly, Naruto kicked her in the chest. But there was no real power behind it, and it only made her stumbled back a few steps.

"Thanks... for the... lesson... I'll remember... that..." he growled getting up. A strange red energy was flowing over his wounds, keeping him from bleeding. He looked up with strange red eyes that looked at Tanya with such rage and hate, they did not seem to be the boy's own eyes.

"This is it! This is the tailed beast!" She smiled at her job well done. He dropped down to all fours like an animal as the energy pouring from his wounds covered his body, it made a powerful red aura that covered him from head to toe. The mood from all the higher-ups immediately changed. Most took a stance like they were ready to jump in. The ref took a step at them but Tanya looked at them all with such authority it made them all hesitate.

"This fight is still going on! Don't one of you DARE interrupt it till one of us is defeated!" She yelled.

"YYRRAAA!" Naruto screamed as he kicked off the ground with such force the was a small explosion before him.

"Still a head-on attack? Or..." He circled her, like a wolf running around his prey, but his speed was very hard for her to keep track of.

"!" Naruto was attacking from four angles at once... it wasn't clone Jutsu, he was just moving so fast it looked like there were four of him. Yet when all four swung at her none connected and Tanya was gone. A bewildered NAruto stood looking around furiously like some wild animal looking for it's prey. He realized he was at a disadvantage and crossed his hands again.

"Shadow clone Jutsu..." He growled in a voice that was not his. This time over a hundred naruto's appeared, all giving off the same sinister aura as the real one.

"The same trick on a bigger scale is not a different trick..." Tanya's voice said from far above him. She was hovering in midair as several targeting circles appeared before her, she was muttering another prayer and holding a rosary around her neck. Before her, a mass of circles appeared, targetting every single Naruto that was below her.

"Begone..." She simply said as she fired her rifle and it's bullet magically split into many, as many targets she saw were targeted. The bullets hit and exploded with a resounding explosion that destroyed the floor of the arena completely. Rocks metal and other debris all crashed down to the floor below them like an avalanche of destruction raining down.

"HAHAHAHA!" Tanya cackled out loudly, momentarily losing some sanity at the overkill devastation she had used. Voices of alarm and panic spread out as the impact shot up so much dust that nobody could see or breathe. the spectators on the ledge above were fine but the rest of the floor was gone.

As people hacked and coughed trying to figure out what had happened Ainz made his move. A nearly dead Naruto was crumbled underneath tons of rubble. Ainz used [TELEPORTATION] to appear next to him and yanking him free. he was alive but heavily injured and bleeding out. He used [GREATER TELEPORTATION] on him and Naruto, taking them to a secluded spot in the forest of death.

"I'll have lot's of time thanks to Tanya's work... still she could have shown a little restraint... not that it would have mattered if she killed him, he could probably stand a resurrection," he muttered as he used a healing potion on Naruto to stabilize him... alright let's see what you know, Ainz began looking through his mind when something unexpected happened. Through the magic, he was in Naruto's mind abut...

"WHO ARE YOU!" Two piercing red eyes growled at Ainz from behind giant massive bars. A type of seal seemed to be placed over the door of this massive cage, an ominous thick red aura emanated the entire area.

"Hello, allow me to introduce myself, I am Ainz Ooal Gown... your new master." He said simply. Dark bone-rattling laughter shook the entire area they were in.

"And why would I obey you?" He asked. Ainz looked at the cage.

"I could let you out... take you from this boy and you will serve me, someone, who is worthy of being called your master... unless you like serving this child." The giant red eyes narrowed intently on Ainz.

"You act as if you are more powerful than I... if you knew what I have done... you would run from me," The giant voice bellowed another laugh.

"I see... well my mana is running thin so I will call it here... I look forward to having you as my pet dog." Ainz chuckled as he ended the spell and was back in his conciouse.

"Still... that was very unexpected. I should have only been peering into his conscious, not able to talk to it directly like that..." He wondered if this tailed beast was the reason for this change in his magic.

"Anyway... since I know the tailed beasts is indeed a captive in this boy... this becomes easier..." he muttered.

"Hmm, and just who might you be? And I don't think I like what you just said friend," A voice said from behind Ainz. Ainz stood and turned around. An older man but still quite robust stood confidently with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. His headband did not have a leaf, instead, it had the kanji for "oil". He had two red streaks running down his face like tears and a long red coat and green kimono that his white spikey hair hung down against.

"Oh? I was followed? I'm surprised..." Ainz muttered at the man who also had traditional wooden monk shoes. he laughed and while scratching the back of his head.

"Well not really... I was just taking a short cut to the woman's hot springs... happened across you by accident. Ainz chuckled at the bad lie.

"So I take it you were the one that killed my Death Knights..." Ainz now grew seriouse, this man could be formidable... especially since he was too low on mana to cast any good spells... but he had one that would be fun... and might be enough.

"Ah, you know I killed them already huh? I was hoping you'd call on them and be shocked when they did not come to help you. Ainz shook his head.

"They were just lookouts, meant to warn me when a strong enemy might appear..." He was actin confident but his lack of mana was a bit of worry... The man laughed and glared at Ainz.

"So, is it just you? Or are you working with that Orochimaru? You seem like the type he'd get along with..." Ainz smiled.

"Indeed... he had hired me to destroy The Leaf Village... I'm sorry if this inconveniences you." Ainz taunted him slightly. But the man had a jovial nature and grinned.

"Well, if there are no beautiful ladies for me to peep on... my writing will suffer, and that is just something I cannot let happen," The man said and laughing once again at his own joke.

"Well, I think we both know how this ends then..." Ainz remark dropping his Hanzo cosplay and casting [PERFECT WARRIOR]. He was wearing his traditional "Momon" armor and twin greatswords. In this form, his lack of mana would not be a problem, and he could engage in real combat with what seemed to be an elite of this world.

"Nice getup you have there... by the way, the name's Jiraiya," He spoke his name like it was supposed to mean something to Ainz. Ainz had Naruto and was moving him to an area that would be out of the way for the upcoming fight.

"Hello, Jiraiya, I am Ainz Ooal Gown of The Sorcer Kingdom." Jiraiya furrowed his brow. Ainz finished moving Naruto away and returned to the area he was standing in.

"Never heard of that village... but no matter, time to die!" He said with a smile that turned to a face of seriousness.

"Fire art release, Toad Oil!" Jiraiya suddenly yelled as a blazing torrent of hot burning oil and fire engulfed the area. The entire area that Ainz stood in was burning. The fire was hot and even strong enough to break through Ainzes magical resistance... but his armor had good fire resistance so even as an undead he was able to shrug off the damage.

"Nice attack... fire in a forest like this will prove to be a problem, don't you think?" Ainz said walking out of the burning inferno. His red cape only singed by it's flames. Jiraiya looked positively stunned to see how little damage one of his best techniques did to the armor-clad fighter.

"My fire won't burn past the oil... speaking of which... I understand if you're not weak to fire... but why are you able to walk over the oil like that? It should be hard even for someone in my shoes..." He asked honestly wanting to know.

"It's been so long since someone has been able to inflict damage to me... I almost forgot what it was like... So I will tell you. I have in my possession many powerful objects, one of which allows me to ignore anythign that makes movement hard, so you should just concentrate on strictly damage from here on out." He walked over the slippery oil like it was nothing. This caused Jiraiya to jump back a bit and rethink his strategy. Jiraiya laughed

"I hadn't expected you to answer... you're awfully considerate of your enemy." Jiraiya chuckled. Ainz simply shook his head and readied his blades.

"I understand I am the intruder here, you are simply trying to protect your village... I hold no ill will to you or your kind, this is just a fulfillment of a contract I made," Ainz explained. Jiraiya snorted a small laugh.

"So, "nothing personal, just business" is that it?" Jiraiya asked wryly. Ainz simply nodded as he continued his approach. Suddenly he dashed at Jiraiya, swinging both his sword in a windmill type combo attack. As expected of a ninja, Jiraiya was able to jump back and to avoid the first strike and ducked the follow-up, the third attack came low, making him hop up in the air to avoid losing his legs, Jiraiya had a perfect chance to counter-attack as Ainz had committed to such a high-risk attack.

But both of these were simply feints for his true attack, a heavy kick aimed at the Ninja's head. In mid-air, he could not dodge the attack. Ainz connected with Jiraiya side with bone-shattering force. But what he kicked was one of those wooden clones that exploded into small chunks of wood.

"HA!" Ainz hurled his sword at a nearby tree, hitting the true Jiraiya. His aim wasn't on point however as the throw mas mostly a guess as to where he would appear.

"Kya!" Jiraiya was cut above his shoulder badly as the huge hunk of metal sailed past him. A spray of blood painted the grass and bushes below him as he fell. He managed to right himself and still landed on the ground.

"I guess that won't work on you huh?" he chuckled but grimaced in pain.

"It's one of your people's more annoying moves, I've learned to deal with it..." Ainz told Jiraiya. He took his remaining sword and charged. Ainz ran him with full power but Jiraiya put his hand on his wound, quickly made hang signals and slammed his hand on the ground.

"What?" Ainz stopped in his tracks as his entire field of view changed. Before Ainz was a wall of slimy flesh that his blades cut into, but not making a deep enough impact to cust anything meaningful. He quickly lept back as a blade the size of a building came crashing down next to him. It missed, but the impact threw up tons of dirt and dust. Ainz was unaffected by the displacement of the impact so easily had his footing to jump out of the cloud of dust.

"A frog?" Before him was a huge frog, many times the size of himself. His had it's katana sunk into the ground and was smoking a pipe. Ainz landed on the reverse edge of it's blade, and ran up the blade, past it's hand and up it's arm.

"Nothing slows you down huh?" Jiraiya called out as he intercepted Ainz around the elbow of the great frog. He came crashing down with an ax kick that deflected off of Ainzes armor. Despite the attack, Ainz still had eyes to kill this giant frog and ran leaped up in the air. Jiraiya made the mistake of assuming the attack was aimed at him and nimbly jumped out of the way.

"WWWRROOO!" the huge frog screamed in pain as Ainz brought his one blade, held with both hands, down onto the elbow joint of the frog. The falling rending attack carved through the frog like butter and severed the arm in one slash.

The giant arm fell to the ground with a tree covering rain of blood as the frog fell back and was gone just as suddenly as he had appeared, in the same weird puff of smoke. Jiraiya's jovial nature was gone as he ran at Ainz. Ainz was still recovering from his attack and caught Jiraiya's attack in his chest.

"RASENGAN!" Jiraiya cried as he pushed a blue orb into Ainzes chest. There was a massive impact of air and pressure as Ainz was sent hurling back many feet, even crashing through a tree and breaking it. He'd lost more HP in that attack than he's ever felt before. Jiraiya was already running at him with another blue orb in his hand and determination on his face. But the lack of pain meant he was already prepared for Jiraiya's follow up attack. The fact that it was the same one was bad for Jiraiya...

Ainz sacrificed his sword and stabbed at Jiraiya's open hand that held the orb of pressure. The blade was immediately shredded but his attack was also undone. Ainz ran past his outstretched arm and into Jiraiya's space before he had time to react, they were face to helmet. Ainz activated his [FLY] amulet as he punched Jiraiya's in his gut with everything he had.

The attack took them both off the ground, even breaking above the tree line. From this high up Ainz could see the tower Tanya was still in, smoke bellowed from it's open windows, but it seemed the commotion she'd made was still underway...

Ainz then brought his free hand down into Jiraiya. The second impact sent the ninja hurtling toward the ground. He fell over 30 feet and crashed into the ground with a huge impact. Ainz floated in the air looking down to see if his attack had worked.

When the dust cleared Jiraiya was indeed in the center of the impact, clearly very injured.

"To... think... you'd fight... me... with your fists..." Jiraiya chuckled in pain as he pulled himself to his feet slowly. Ainz could see he was winning this fight, but the look on the old ninja's face meant he had not yet used his trump card.

"I'm impressed you're alive! No human I've known would be able to live through that!" He said in truth. Ainz was surprised the ninja was alive. He had put everything he had into both those attacks, this old ninja was durable if nothing else.

"Why do I get... the feeling... you're not taking this very... seriouse?" Jiraiya asked as he prepared another series of hand signals.

"Honestly, you caught me at a really bad time, so I was forced to fight you with my physical abilities, which are not my favorite... I'm making do with what I have, you could say." Ainz said honestly as he descended a few yards away from Jiraiya.

"So you're not even a ti-Jutsu master? And yet, you hit way harder than my friend Guy... that's a tad worrisome." Jiraiya chuckled as a huge blue orb appeared in his hand, unlike the previous two this one was many time the size of his body even and he held it outward. The swirling of the attack caused the trees and bushes to whip around in it's torrent.

"Hehehe... I may die here... but I'll go out with all I can... and are you even alive to begin with?" He muttered as fresh blood ran from his mouth. Ainz looked at the armor on his chest. He realized it was torn open and his Skelton ribcage bones were showing.

"Not exactly... so is that your strongest attack then?" Ainz was more than a little worried about taking that attack, if the weaker one had already shredded his adamantite chest plate armor. he cast a [MESSAGE] to Tanya.

"Tanya, it's Ainz, meet em where I first summoned you if you can... we're beginning the final leg of this plan," he told her in his mind.

"Rodger, I've already fled the tower after my attack, so I'll be there shortly," she informed him. Ainz nodded.

"Well, this fight has taken up too much time... sorry but my goal has been reached

"Well, as much as I'd like to try my hand at the rest of this fight... I think I'll be leaving." Ainz said as he used almost the last of his mana to Teleport to Naruto... many yards away.

"Nice meeting you Jiraiya, we'll fight again when I'm at full power soon... until then," Ainz chuckled as he used his last [GREATER TELEPOPRTATION] to whisk Naruto and himself away to the randevu point he'd told Tanya to meet him at. And just like that, they were gone.

"PHEW!" Jiraiya released the Jutsu and crashed to the ground breathing heavily and groaning in pain.

"I'll be ready next time... I hope," Jiraiya muttered as he made his way to the temple to tell everyone what he's run into.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX: Rampage (Kakashi clashes with Tanya-his weakness revealed)

"So, you have got him huh?" Tanya remarked flying in to meet Ainz. Ainz looked up at her then returned his attention to the sleeping Naruto. She silently landed next to him and looked down at him, not impressed.

"IS he really worth all this? Even when he changed... it didn't seem like much."

"It is... I uh, spoke with thie tailed beast. It has a rotten attitude, but he's locked up so there will be time to work on that later."

"Then next is the other one. And then we're out of here?" Ainz nodded.

"Yes, I am eager to return home... I can imagine they are all very worried about me. But they can manage for a week or so at most." Tanya raised her eyebrow as she scanned around, making sure she was not followed... luckily the ability to sly wasn't common even among jut-su users it seemed.

"Well anyway, for now, I need to rest... any conflict at this point would be troublesome. I'll need you to guard me while I recover mana." Ainz said as he took a seat. Tanya readied her rifle and almost gave him a salute but resisted.

"Other than just guard you, shouldn't I just keep tabs on the enemy?" Tanya asked, she was doubtful Ainz even needed her guard. At her question, Ainz reached into his personal space and took out several scrolls. He laid them out and dropped some gold coins onto each. They lit up. caught fire and burned away and in their place, three Ninja's that looked the way Ainz was taking disguise as earlier, appeared.

"These stealth units will do that for me, as well as provide me protection from the ground, they can't fly so you will be my air cover, should fighting break out," Ainz explained. Tanya eyed the three ninjas carefully.

"How powerful are those things?" They were giving her a very creepy vibe...

"Hmm, if I had to put it in terms you would understand... I guess just one of these guys is as strong as you are, in theory... probably not so much in practice but... you get my point." Ainz said.

"I've heard you refer to things as "level" before... that sounds like a videogame reference... care to explain?" Tanya asked.

"Well you know what video games are, that makes this easier... yes, in my experience I've been able to rate things according to the power level of my old game... conveniently enough the cap seems to be 100... so I can rate things on a scale of 1-100."

"What exactly is my "level" then?" She asked. But he shook his head.

"You're um... "stats" don't match up with ours... for example, without magic, you are literally just a child, right? No inherent strength or power?"

"That's right... I was all but useless until my magic was discovered..." Tanya said, remembering her days in the orphanage, where she would have to hide her bread or it would be stolen.

"But your magic was able to damage me... quite a bit actually... assuming that was your strongest spell you could safely cast at that range... I'd say you hit me with a 9th tier spell, which should put you around level 80ish... so your physical stats should be around 30% weaker than mine, yet... you are still just human, you are hard to place on this scale, unlike these ninjas I've been fighting." He admitted.

"Sounds like I'm getting a bad deal then... damn you Being X..." she always suspected Being X was holding her back while pretending to give her a leg up... now she knew it was true, as she suspected Being X was responsible for this guy going to another world as well... Being X probably did this with a lot of humans...

"Wait... Ainz," She said suddenly. he looked at her puzzled by her sudden tone.

"How did you summon me? Exactly?" She asked. After a moment, he showed her the statue he used to summon her, by accident, with.

"These were supposed to summon my allies that I bound them to, but instead of Shalltear, I got you... I still don't understand why." Ainz said shaking his head.

"Is that your last one then?" He nodded.

"It is, why?" There was some suspicion in his tone, but she sat next to him to look him in his "eyes".

"Even if you claim not to know who Being X is, I still suspect he's the reason you are the way you are now... same as me, however, what if he's done this before? Still is? What if Being X is constantly ripping people from our... from Earth and putting them in these weird words, with weird powers?" Ainz seemed to contemplate her words.

"So you think... if I use this other summons, I'd get another "Being X victim"... someone from Earth, whose now in another world?" Tanya nodded and smiled.

"Right, and this person might have information on Being X that we can..."

"Tanya... I should tell you something first..." Ainz said, interrupting her. She looked at him confused but waiting for what he wanted to say.

"Even if this Being X is responsible for my current state... I would harbor it no ill will... In fact, I'd probably thank them... My life was boring, borderline terrible if I'm being honest. When I became like this... I knew a kind of fulfillment I never thought possible,"

"But, didn't you leave people you care about behind?" Her question his a visible nerve in Ainz as he became somewhat flustered until somehow calming down almost immediately.

"Yes, I um, did... but I'd rather have them all here with me... as they would no doubt love this... my new world back home... as much as I do, most of them anyway..." He seemed forlorn, it was an odd emotion for him to be displaying.

"Just because you don't..." She scowled at the thought of Ainz possibly being neutral with Being X. She frowned, it's a good thing he was her ticket out of this world, right now would be a good time to attack him...

"Fine... whatever, I'll be keeping a lookout." She simply said and flew off into some high trees to make a sniper's nest. Every so often the Hanzo's, as he called them, would return and give a report and then be off again.

"They are continuing with these exams... even with known threats about..." Ainz repeated what the Hanzo's had reported to him. She shook her head at the stupidity... or arrogance of these Leaf Village Ninja warriors...

"You think they are trying to draw us out?" She asked back. He thought for a second.

"Possibly, they no doubt want Naruto back, Orochimaru may be to thank for this windfall... having them not turtle up on us will make this easier... honestly I was expecting to have to destroy the whole village soon, but I might be able to put that off for now." Tanya just shrugged.

"You should just do it now, isn't going for two beasts just a tad greedy when they know we're coming?"

"Maybe... but I am a collector, it's not in my nature to ignore something rare," The term "collector" sounded a but off-putting to her... whose to say he would not simply "collect" her when her usefulness was over? She suddenly realized Ainz might be a bigger threat than Being X in the short term.

"I see... well... I'm going to try and get some rest, for my mind... even if this ring keeps your body energized...

"...mental exhaustion is still a real thing, yes I know." He finished. She nodded and layed back with her eyes closed, trying to think of nothing for as long as she could.

Several hours went by but the only news that was worthwhile was that all the ninjas had returned to the village.

"Are they still looking for us in the Forest of Death?... I see okay good..."

"Well everyone is in the village, we should start making our way there, seems liek they have cleared out of the forest aside from cameras surveillance, which we can skirt around." She got up and nodded. The hours of rest made her mind more focused.

"And the boy? We can't take him with us." She said looking at the snoring ninja who was still deeply asleep.

"I can keep him asleep, so long as he's not hurt he won't wake up... but I have a bit of an idea on how to keep him safe... and draw enemies away from us." he said as he seemed to be readying another spell.

"[CREATE FORTRESS]" as soon as he cast the spell a 30-meter tall tower appeared from thin air. Tanya looked in amazement at the kind of magic Ainz could wield.

"This Fortress will hold him and the guard I place within will kill any who, somehow, break-in... but that shouldn't be possible," Ainz explained as he walked in. Tanya did not enter, simply waited for Ainz to conduct the same scroll and gold ritual, several times over. Before long the tower was filled with many Hanzo and other creatures Tanya had never seen or heard about.

"Plus... they will think we are here... or at least this is our base and will focus the search in this forest still... not a bad strategy considering the power of your guards you can call," Tanys admitted as Ainz sealed the door shut.

"This tower will last for 24 hours if I don't refresh it, but with [TELEPORTATION] that will be easy, we actually can use it as a base, I am confident nobody in this word can break it down, as I seem to have already run across one of the most powerful ninja this world currently knows of... I doubt even he could break in, certainly not defeat my guards."

"And if he comes with a whole army?" but Ainz chucked.

"Armies are nothing to me. No, I would actually prefer they did that, it would save lots of time." Ainz said nodding. Tanya simply waited for him to begin the trek to the Village of The Hidden Leaf.

Luckily, with the path laid out by their Hanzo guard, they could see the massive Ninja Village for the first time.

"I see the term 'village' is ceremonial in nature... this is a full-blown city!" Tanya remarked at the huge area that they could see from the tree line. They even had giant faces carved into the mountainside...

"C...Can you really destroy this entire city as easily as you say?" She didn't doubt him, she just needed to be sure, now that the scope of their enemy was now known... they would have thousands of soldiers, given the size of this place. Ainz simply let another one of his chuckles.

"Yes." Is all he said...but the way he said it, however, let Tanya understand just how trivial it would be for him. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Ainz could kill Being X... certainly, his power seemed on the level of Gods... There could be a use for him after all! She almost let a wicked smile appear on her face, but kept it hidden.

"So what now? Wait for darkness and move in?" Tanya asked. Ainz nodded and took a place next to a tree and cast [INVISABILTY] on himself and Tanya. The wait was another welcomed rest for the mind, even if the whole time she was on high alert. Darkness once again fell and they made their move along with several others, each with their own agenda.

"We simply need to get into position... from what I hear there will be a huge gathering tomorrow to witness the final leg of the exam... that's when we'll make our move." He whispered to her as they silently made their way to ta large gate. There were posted guards but they were not able to see the two that flew silently over it and touched down in the Hidden Leaf.

"What part of the village are we in now? This looks like nothing but houses..." Tanya muttered. She had no idea where Ainz was so she kept close to his whispering voice.

As they made their way through the dark streets, keeping ut of the way of any guards that would patrol by every so often Tanya got a weird feeling liek they were being watched, yet she saw nobody around.

"Psst, Ainz... I think we are being followed." Tanya whispered. But he said nothing back.

"Psst... Ainz?" She asked into nothing and again he did not respond.

"I was waiting for you to realize you've been alone for some time now..." A voice said from above her. She had the realization she was no longer invisible. Tanya looked around to find she was not even in the village anymore. She was standing on an open plain of knee-high grass...

"What the hell is this?" She asked out looking in all directions. then she remembered something Ainmz had said earlier... about their enemy once trying to hypnotize them... could she have fallen for something like that? she looked behind her and a ninja was standing behind her, nonchalantly. He had a green vest, mask over his face and spikey silver hair. He was the teacher of Naruto and Sasuke, she remembered him from the trial, but this time he had both eyes looking at her. One eye was glowing red and looks incredibly odd.

"Who... what..."

"I see you're unfamiliar with Genjustsu, this is a basic one yet you fell for it easily... anyway my name is Kakashi, and I will be the one killing you tonight." He said with a shrug. He casually walked toward her as she raised her rifle and pointed at his face.

"How can you operate that weapon with broken arms?" he asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"What? My arms aren't..." she was saying as suddenly all the bone of her arms snapped at the same time.

"YYEAAAAA!" She cried out in pain as she hit the ground in near shock from the sudden pain. The ninja named Kakashi clicked his tongue.

"It's not uncommon for the physically powerful to be weak against this... but you have no resistance to this as all do you?" He asked as he lazily kicked Tanya in her chest.

"Guh!" the air escaped her chest as his foot knocked the wind from her. She flew across the open plain until finally coming to a stop. She couldn't breathe, but she knew in a couple of seconds her lungs would begin to work again so she did not panic.

"So first I'll need to know how to get into that weird fortress you guys made... i assume that's where naruto is? Oh... it's ok I'll wait till you can talk..." Kakashi said with a smile, but bringing his foot down across her back, the impact sent her face slamming intot he ground and some teeth even fell out.

"This... isn't real..." she told herself through the pain. He's only attacking me liek this because he knows he can't be me in a real match... so if I overcome this illusion..." she muttered out loud.

"Eh? What's that?" He asked putting his hand to his ear, mocking her. She could feel the blood running from her mouth but even this pain wasn't enough to break her... she sprang to her feet and slammed her forehead into his. AS she did this the sound of breaking glass could be heard and she was suddenly in the town street again, her body uninjured.

"I did it..." she remarked with a smile as she looked at the real Kakashi who was looking at her in surprise.

"How? That level of pain should have crippled you! To think one so young had that kind of conditioning..." He shook his head as he dropping into an odd fighting stance. She rose her rifle and laughed.

"Don't misunderstand... I've undergone all kinds of real training to resist torture... you didn't even try to sexually assault me... you're just a big softy for children aren't you?" She laughed as she clicked a button and a blade made of some unearthly metal popped out, this rifle had one hell of a bayonet function...

"He looked shocked for a moment at her taunting... she had called it... it was her age that made him take it easy on her... the fool! She sneered at such a weak mind as she dashed at him, invoking her magic that boosted her physical capabilities to that of a "level 80ish" fighter... as Ainz would describe it.

A blue light surged at the open palm of Kakashi as he gathered some kind of electrical power...

"Shit!" She suddenly realized he was preparing an attack. Instead of continuing her charge she stopped out of caution. Took two grenades from her belt and threw one at him. She kept the second one in her hand. The explosion broke the silence of their intrusion, but she was done playing covert op.

Kakashi took the explosion, seemingly head-on as he dove throw the explosion. He rushed at her with an outstretched hand as fast as a loosed arrow. His hand approached her face at a speed much faster than she was expecting. However...

"Predictable..." she said as a bright flash went off that was accompanied by a loud bang. She turned away from the flashbang and her attacker as the unexpected assault on the senses broke the aim of the ninja. His electrified hand reached above her head as she drove the blade of the rifle into his exposed ribs. The blade easily broke past the chest guard and punctured his left lung. She pulled the blade out as she spun backward, easily avoiding some ninja daggers thrown at her from the shadows.

The blades clanked off her rifle as she spun the rifle in a circular fashion over and over again. With all blades parried and her back step opening up room for another attack, she lunged intot he collapsing body of Kakashi, driving her blade into his other lung.

"BLAWWHH!" he coughed up blood as his lungs filled with his own blood. Again she pulled out the rifles blade and fell back as her unseen attacker ran at her.

"KAKASHI SENSEI!" the pink-haired girl from the trial cried out. Kakashi tried to raise his hand and say something but only a torrent of blood fell from his mask as she collapsed, reaching out to Sakura. he was no doubt telling her to stay back... a warning she would have done well to listen to.

Tanya easily parried the bladed attacks the girl threw at her one after another as she stupidly ran at Tanya. Tanya stepped in far faster than the beginner ninja had been expecting. She thrusting the gun at Sakura's head, smashing the butt of the rifle against the forehead of the charging girl.

The sound of wood cracking against skull echoed out as the girl was thrown to her back from the sudden hit. A spray of blood accompanied her cry of pain. Sakura fell to her back holding her head and crying. Tanya turned the gun's barrel at Sakura nad pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot rang out and the girl stopped moving as Tanya's bullet enter out the back of Sakura's head.

Kakashi was looking at the dead body of Sakura with a pained expression, still reaching out to her with tears and blood running down his face... Sakura's dead body would be the last thing he saw until... blackness forever. Tanya put the barrel of her gun and fired point-blank into his head.

Ainz then appeared behind her.

"What happened?" he asked looking at the two dead bodies.

"What's it look like? I was attacked... we need to go, more will be coming..." Tanys curtly said as they took to the air. They soared high intot he air so that they would bland in against the night sky to anyone looking up. Below they did see many guards moving to inspect the noise. BUt something else caught their attention.

"Is that Gaara?" Ainz asked in surprise. On one of the highest buildings stood their second target... the sullen-looking boy with red hair. She looked at Ainz for orders.

"Stay here, I'm going in for him... if I fail we can always try later." Ainz used [TELEPORT] to appear behind Gaara. He reached out to touch the child's shoulder but sand suddenly was wrapping itself around him, and giving his position away. Gaara casually looked behind him, not surprised to see Ainz, or his true form.

"Idiot... sneak attacks don't work on me..." Gaara said in a bored tone as a huge blast of sand smashed into Ainz. the attack was successful, meaning this Gaara was at least considered level 60. But Ainz had high elemental resistance and this was just an "earth style" attack, the damage was almost nothing.

"An auto defense huh? That's annoying..." Ainz muttered. Gaara looked at him cross and frowned.

"No, you are the annoying one..." The sand that was collapsing around then suddenly covered Ainz in a kind fo shell made of sand.

"Sand burial coffin..." Gaara said as he rose Ainz up.

"Sand Burial..." He closed his open palms and the sand crushed Ainz with at least a ton of pressure.

"WHAT?" Gaara said in shock as Ainz simply walked out of the sand coffin.

"That attack is so-so... I'm sure you're capable of more but... no time for that now." Ainz said as he forced his hand onto Gaara's shoulder and cast [SLEEP]. Gaara's body fell limp and Ainz caught it. Luckily this scuffle was not noticed by anyone it seemed and...

"Kyah Kyah Kyah!" A strange laugh came from Gaara, who should be asleep... Ainz looked as sand began to cover the body of Gaara. He sensed an incredible amount of power amassing and threw him to the ground and backed up. Gaara's whole body was getting covered in the sand that was forming some kind of large head below him.

"You idiot... I don't know who you are... but you just let me free... KKYAAAAH!" Gaara announced as a large expansion of power erupted before Ainz. before he could figure out what was going on a huge beast that resembled a tanuki (raccoon) somewhat but with large black markings all over his body. The unconscious body of swallowed by the behemoth.

"So this is a released tailed beast..." Ainz muttered in awe at the huge creature. He cast [TELEPORT] and returned to Tanya. She was looking at him with a shocked look.

"What did you do to him?"

"That is not my power... something awoke in him when I put him to sleep magically..." he said in surprise as he studied the beast that was now looking around for where Ainz went, but then realized he was in the middle of a village. A cruel smile replaced the angry expression on the One-tailed beast as it promptly forgot about Ainz and decide to begin smashing.

"WWWHOOOOOOOO!" It howled out, breaking the peace of the village, and waking everyone up. Then it promptly began slamming it's giant feet and hands into the surrounding buildings. Huge plumes of dust rose as it picked up broken buildings and threw them at inbroken ones.

"Well... looks like this thing is doing your job for you..." Tanya laughed as shouts and screams rose up from the carnage that the One-Tailed beast was delivering. He sat with a smile in his dark heart.

"Anyone that shows up to stop this thing... will be easy picking for us... we'll support that thing from afar, this wasn't my original plan but it seems like this could work... then I simply need to beat IT, and we can call this a completed mission," he said in a smug voice.

They both hovered high in the night sky as the One-tailed monster began it's attack on the leaf village.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN: Going Home? (One tail goes crazy! Ainz and The Hokage strike a deal?)

The burning dust fell like snow. But it was ash that fell, not frozen water.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" The female ninja called to her companions. But a falling house crushed them in a huge impact that sent her flying to the ground. She was on her feet quickly enough, but the cloud of dust and debris she was caught in made visibility and breathing impossible.

"This is dangerous..." She pulled her mask on to help with the dust and tried to find her way through the fog of war. She heard loud crashes and screams from far off, and rhythmic rumbling like some giant creature was walking around.

The last thing she saw was a shadow and huge flat object descending on her.

"This sure is an intersting show... like something from an old Kaiju movie..." Tanya remarked as the huge beast kept up it's rampage. Ainz sat in silence and watched.

"You're waiting for someone to show up to fight it, right?"

"I'm waiting for the ones strong enough to defeat it... for instance, the old ninja I fought in the forest could beat this thing, I think... he was rather powerful, and I doubt I saw all he had. I'd like for someone of his Calibur to reveal themselves." Tanya scanned the landscape of the wreckage... most efforts seemed to be concentrated on the rescue of the civilian populace. the rest she saw was the beginning efforts of evacuation.

"By the way Ainz... I've been meaning to ask you about this rifle you made me..." Tanya said suddenly. Ainz looked at her to contuine.

"Ever since you've given me this thing, my magical and physical abilities have been... on a whole other level... how is that possible form just holding a weapon like this?" Tanya asked. She understood machines running off of and being empowered by magic, but not the other way around... this would be valuable information to take back to the fatherland.

"Hmm? Oh yes, I suppose the small stat boost that gun would give would seem large by your sense of power... it's just a side effect from my high Intelligence... um, I don't mean that i'm smart, it's a literal stat that raises magic power... I have lots so anything I do magically will seem large, even if to me it isn't that big of a buff." He casually explained. She clicked her tongue, it would seem she would not be able to replicate this rifle...

Several more loud explosions rocked the warzone. But these were not made by the Beast. the giant Monster was under assault finally. Ainz pointed at the large impacts surrounding the One Tail. It wasn't any heavy hitters but many squads of capable ninja... still not what Ainz was looking for.

But on the top of a far off tall building, Ainz saw the old man with the pipe in his mouth. The one called 'Hokage'. Ainz pointed him out to Tanya.

"There's the leader of this village..." She aimed her rifle at him and took a sniper shot. Her aim was good but somehow he moved his head to the side at the last second. her bullet pasted harmlessly past his head. Tanya clicked her tongue in frustration.

"Missed? I was sure I had him..."

"No, he was able to see the muzzle flash no doubt. Maybe I should go speak with this Hokage." Ainz said as he cast [TELEPORT] and appeared on the other side of the roof. The Hokage looked at Ainz and blew smoke from his pipe.

"So... you come at last..." he muttered. Ainz chuckled with a nod.

"Indeed... with you standing out here like this and not helping your soldiers... I can only assume you were calling me out," Ainz said opening his hands up in a friendly manner. The Hokage frowned and they off his robes. He was wearing a very traditional black ninja suit... probably the outfit of his youth.

"So... exactly who, or what are you?" The elderly ninja asked. Ainz put his hand to his chin in thought.

"Well, I am not from this world. I came here, originally peacefully. But due to a misunderstanding, your men attacked me, forcing me to kill them. Then I learned of the "tailed beasts"..." Ainz said gesturing to the rampaging One Tail.

"... and my collector's spirit was ignited."

"So, you happened to be passing by and decided to wipe out our village... for what end?" the old ninja said as he summoned a long staff.

"Hmm, that... well, that was an agreement I made... but you know, I think this counts as a fulfilled agreement, ironically I don't have to do much till your village is gone." Ainz casually wove his hand like nothing really bothered him. The Hokage frowned.

"And you intend to stop anyone who could defeat that thing, don't you?" He said angerly getting ready to fight.

"You know, it's in my nature to respect the elderly... I don't say this in jest by the way..." Ainz said not preparing for battle. The willy old mans brain caught onto what Ainz was saying... or rather what he had told him outright."

"Collectors spirit, eh? What if I could offer you something more... rare and incredible than that rampaging beast over there." The Hokage said with a grin when he saw Ainz clap his hands.

"Exactly what I wanted to hear from you... so, what can you offer me in exchange for staying out of the fight with this beast over there?" The old ninja looked Ainz up and down.

"Were you really "not seriouse" when you fought Jiraiya?" He asked gravely. Ainz nodded.

"I don't brag when I say this, but I was probably fighting around... 30% of my total strength."

"And you were able to beat Jiraiya without killing him... I think I might understand what we are up against in you..." Despite his words, he smiled and put his weapon away.

"If you are not from our world... and a collector, surely you must have noticed our ninja arts... are these foreign to you?" Ainz nodded.

"Yes, I've seen things that come close to these arts, but not specifically this kind, why?" The Hokage breathed out heavily. Fetching his pipe from behind him. A loud explosion shook the area behind them as the One tail kept it's onslaught up.

"We have a scroll... more of a national treasure than anything. it has all the recorded Ninjitsu's that have ever been created or mastered in this village... needless to say it a lot and the power contained could be... immeasurably useful to a man like you as it even details on how to perform these lost and even forbidden arts... do you understand what I am offering you?" Ainz couldn't believe what he was just offered. Taking something like that back could...

"Okay... I am interested, and I believe it is as powerful and dangerous as you say..."

"However!" the ninja spoke loudly which caught Ainzes attention.

"I have additional terms... you must return the boy Naruto as well. This is non-negotiable." Ainz pretended to be thinking it over but in reality, he wanted that scroll far more than these level 90ish tailed beats. As well as the fact he wasn't sure his "ticket home" would work on anyone other than himself... a fact Tanya would not be happy to learn... he may have to do something about her at some point... she is dangerous beyond measure.

"Very well, I am ordering my Hanzo's to safely transport him here now... anything else?" the man took a draw from his pipe.

"So do you plan to return to your homela...homeworld after your "sightseeing" is done in our world?"

"WWWWHWHHHHOOOOOO!" the one Tail yowled as a giant one-armed frog (but it was growing back) with a katana appeared and slammed the One Tail. The white-haired ninja sage sat on his head, looked hurt and uneasy as his eyes settled on the conversation Ainz was having.

"Indeed, I have people waiting for me back home as well."

"Good, as having the scroll in enemy hands is a problem, I am happy to hear you are at least removing the forbidden arts that are sealed within it... and I just have one last request." The Hokage said firmly. Ainz knew he was in the bad part of the negotiation, he'd shown how badly he wanted that scroll, so now this kage old man was bending him over the barrel.

"Very well... what is this FINAL request?" Ainz asked with some annoyance in his voice, mostly for show. The ninja looked Ainz in his burning red eyes.

"Kill me." Is all he said and stood up straight and proud. Ainz cocked his head to the side.

"Eh? Kill you? Why?" He did not understand. The huge battle raged as the Ninja sage, backed up by countless Leaf Ninja did battle with the One Tail.

"By handing over this scroll... I am committing an egregious crime, this is my atonement... a selfish one anyway." Ainz nodded, that was all too simple.

"Alright... then take me to this scroll," Ainz ordered before casting [MESSAGE] to Tanya.

"Change of plans, this old man is buying us off to remain out of the fight, so do not interfere unless they attack you first, okay?"

"Yeah that's fine, I'm enjoying the show anyway... it's like something you'd see in a..."

"Yeah anyway, I'll be gone for bit, then we will go home,"

"I see... okay let me know Ainz." He tone changed as soon as he mentioned "home". The ninja ran off and Ainz easily kept up. he lead him to a weird place in the forest, they traveled for some time in complete silence. At least twelve Hanzo units shadowed the two of them in case of betrayal.

"We are here..." The Hokage said as they came to a shack in the middle of the forest. He made some hand gestures, undoing a seal. The doors slid open and he entered alone. Soon enough he came back carrying a huge scroll that reminded Ainz of Aura's world Item. the Hokage handed it over without hesitation and as soon as it touched Ainzes hand he knew something...

"World Item... this scroll is a world item tier item!" He tried to remain calm and dignified... this was a legit scroll alright! To think he'd find a world item caliber artifact in this world... there must be more. He made the scroll vanish in his personal space.

The Ninja then handed him some other scrolls.

"These are the basic and advanced teaching of how to perform chakra flow and all the basic ninja art stuff you or whomever you give this scroll to will need to know... it's the kind of things we teach kids so... no real benefit." He shrugged but Ainz took them and bowed with gratitude.

"Are you satisfied?" The old man asked.

"Um, maybe... first, thank you for holding up your end. I will hold up mine, but I want to know something. Do your people know how to raise the dead?" At the question, the man scowled.

"Yes, there are forbidden arts that can raise the dead as lifeless puppets, but their power is on par with their living counterparts, supposedly. A man name Orochimaru made this curse art, you will find it on the scroll no doubt."

"What about, actually return to life, as flesh and blood with all memories intact?" The old man laughed.

"No, we do not have that ability... I don't think something like that exists, I'm sorry i cannot help you out there I'm afraid." Ainz laughed at his misunderstanding.

"No, um it is I who wish to help. My companion, the blonde girl, killed two of your ninja as we snuck in here. Could you have their bodies brought to me?" The elderly ninja looked confused but only nodded. Within seconds a leaf ninja appeared with the dead bodies of Kakashi and Sakura.

"What is this?" The Hokage asked with more worry as Ainz pulled out a rod and knelt over their bodies. A few seconds passed before they both suddenly gasped for air. Their sudden animation shocked the ninja and Hokage and they jumped back as Sakura and Kakashi coughed and sputtered.

"W...Wha...how...is...what..." is all the two ninja could make out as Sakura slowly looked around rubbing her eyes. She tried to say something but just put her head down.

"They will be exhausted and very weak for some time... but there you go, as a way to thank you." The Hokage still looked shocked, even his pipe fell to the flood.

"So then, shall we get onto the other part?" Ainz asked. The Hokage nodded and motion to be followed before giving his final order.

"have Kakashi and Sakura taken to the medical ward for recovery, speak of this to no one." The ninja simply bowed and did as commanded without a second thought.

"Do you have a place in mind?" Ainz asked. The Hokage nodded and they went to an open field with a kind of memorial plate. many names were inscribed on the plate the Hokage turned his back and gazed at the names of his friends, the ones he was about to meet again after so long. He smiled.

"Please do it..." he said solemnly. Ainz reached his hand out...

"[DEATH]" and just like that, the Hokage was robbed of his life. He fell to his knees and hunched over, it looked as if her were bowing to the slab of names.

Ainz turned and cast [TELEPORTATION] to meet back up with Tanya. She was a tad surprised when he popped up next to her but tried to hide it.

"You get what you wanted?" Tanya asked. Ainz nodded. The war against the One-Tailed seemed to be going well until several loud explosions echoed out that were too far away from the One Tail to be related to it. The village was surrounded by huge snakes on all sides but the mountainside.

"Eh? Snakes? Is this you?" Tanya asked but Ainz shook his head.

"No, my guess this is Orochimaru capitalizing on the One-Tailes attack. This is probably it for this village, either way, we're leaving." Ainz said but Tanya seemed reluctant to go just yet.

"What exactly did you get that made you want to give up on the tailed beasts?" She asked dubiously.

"Ah, sorry... You worked hard for me to get them and I just gave them up... well in truth keeping that one subdued without [SLEEP] would be a pain, as for Naruto... I wasn't convinced The Nine Tails was that strong from my talk with it... maybe level 90... nothing that I really need, but he handed me an instruction manual on how to perform the ninja arts, and all of them to boot... a pretty good deal." Tanya shrugged as her eyes caught the reflection of another series of explosions.

The Ninja sage still had his hands full with the One Tails and now the large snakes and enemy ninja troops were beginning to pour in. Just then huge wooden snake liek beams wrapped around the One Tails and almost immediately it stopped moving. Ainz saw a ninja he had not seen yet. he had weird looking black pupils and seemed to control wood.

"Why is that wood so effective against The beast?" Tanya asked in confusion. It as like the "off switch" had been thrown on the Giant Raccoon. Jiraiya and this new ninja exchanged a glance and the huge toad bounded away in order to combat the huge snakes that were ravaging the outskirts of the town.

"They might pull it off... might as well watch it play pout yes?" Tanya said and Ainz shrugged. This was a spectacle, but he wanted to go home soon... the way he had left Albedo concerned him more and more.

Civilians were running to their doom, the ones that were trying to flee the One tail ran right into the enemy ninja troops and were cut down immediately. It didn't matter if they were children or women. This was a complete sacking of the city.

"They aren't following any kind of rules... not that ninja would have rules for combat... but still this is..." Tanya shook her head. In reality, she wished her nation employed such ruthless measures. That Orichimaru would make a good military leader.

"Seems a lot of the power of this nation was wrapped up in it's few elites that it had..." just as she was saying that one of the large snakes fell to a series of blows. At it's base were a man and teenager that Ainz recognized. They all had weird white eyes and were laying waste to the snakes and the surrounding souldiers. he was the one called Neji.

"More elites are showing up..." Tanya remarked as another monster snake fell with a huge crash. Another man and teenager combo stood on it's broken body. They had matching green leotards and Ainz also recognized them as Guy and Rock Lee. The other two snakes fell in a similar fashion, beaten when one of the generals that were watching over the exams

"His attack is failing..." Tanya remarked but Ainz shook his head.

"He's yet to reveal himself on this battlefield," Ainz said. He figured Orchimaru was counting on Ainz doing more, but he really saw no need to at this point. But Ainz figured a man like Aochimaru wasn't so stupid as to rely on only "hired help".

"No... this attack is a ruse, whatever he is after... he is probably personally obtaining it as we speak... anyway our time here is finished." Ainz cast [TELEPORTATION] on himself and Tanya. They appeared in the fortress, that he had made earlier.

"So, this is it huh? Where we say our good-byes?" Tanya asked.

"No, I only have a way to return to my world, and you with me, from there we will figure out a way to get you home... or make you a nice one in Nazarick, I'm afraid that is all I can promise you." Tanya gave no reaction and just waited. Ainz slipped off one of his rings and took out another ring and slipped it on. He sighed a bit, slightly worried this would not work.

He looked at the ring Shooting Star, which would let him cast [WISH UPON A STAR] three times for free. He had once tried to use this spell to break the mind control of Shalltear, and it failed, so it was not absolute... but Demiurge had guessed that it would probably work.

This was not that same exact ring, however. This was a ring given to him by a young girl he employed a few months ago named Ridda. She had mined a different Shooting Star Ring that only had one charge left from an odd Store that held an unimaginable level of gear*... this wasn't the ring gifted to him by his dear friend, so he did not feel bad about using it.

(*AU= Ainz is referring to events in my fanfic OVERLORD Side Adventures Vol.2)

"Alright... here we go..." He held up the ring and activated the super tier spell that would, quite literally, grant him a wish. After the ridiculously long cast time, the spell was ready to be completed. Tanya simply stared in amazement at the huge bubble and made sure to stand within (she thought that would increase her chances of going with him)

"Create a permanent portal door that will lead to Nazarick from here!" Was the exact nature of his wish. If he could travel back and forth, with all the resources of Nazarick at his disposal... conquering this ninja world would be simple! So ideally he wanted the ability to go back and forth as many times as needed, and he wanted only Nazarick to have access to this portal... he did n't want to use the one in the floating city that The Platinum Dragon Lord held sway over.

The spell worked. A rip or tear through space and time opened up, at first it seemed unstable but as the wish demanded it stays open, magic formed a strange piece around the tear and made it a doorway. The doorway held and it looked incredibly stable.

Ainz stood and looked through the portal and saw Nazarick... his beloved Nazarick. All he would have to do is walk past this door and he would be home. However...

"Well, did it work? Is that your home?" Tanya asked. She was wondering why he didn't just walk through immediately. In fact, he seemed very troubled.

"Well? Hey! Ainz!" Tanya yelled and he looked at her. His mood was weird... like he was happy but scared at the same time... this really put her on edge.

"Y...Yes, that is my home on the other side called Nazarick... there's just one problem..." He said with real fear in his voice now, not just worry. Tanya just looked at him, wondering what the problem was then...


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT: The new Agenda (Ainz is the new Hokage? War is coming to the ninja world)

"Well, what's the matter? Can we go back to your world or not?" Tanya asked. Ainz turned around and sat at a table and chair.

"Yes... on a technical level we can, this is indeed my home of Nazarick on the other side of that door, but it could not have opened into a worse place," Ainz sounded let down and worried... possibly scared.

"What do you mean?" Tanya asked. She looked at the opening and saw a strange land, with stranger still monsters lurking about.

"On the other side of that door is death... even for me, near absolute... I wasn't specific enough it seems and the wish bit me in the ass." He admitted in frustration. But he suspected this was a fail-safe set up long ago.

In reality, Ainz was surprised this worked as Nazarick was protected by a World Item, something that trumps the power of this ring. So this portal should not even be able to exist...

"Unless someone in Nazarick disabled that world item, knowing this was my only way back, Demiurge... sounds liek you at work," Ainz muttered out loud. Tanya was still just looking at him, waiting for her answer as to what the issue was.

"That place is known simply as "The eight-floor" and it contains... the most powerful and terrible things you could ever imagine... the entire floor is designed to kill you, it is almost impossible to cross, and from where it looks liek we are, we'd have to cross the entire floor." He put his hands in his face and groaned loudly.

"So? I've seen you teleport before, just do that, right?"

"No, all of Nazarick is made so that teleporting and gate spells won't work ESPECIALLY to and from that floor, there is extra protection... like the inability to even cast [MESSAGE' when you are on that floor... so I can't just ask for help getting across... and I'd have to cross on foot. Flying would be the most dangerous option... so then you're looking at a grueling trip with nonstop combat, by creatures that can easily kill the both of us that would last the better part of a month..." Ainz did not have his ring of "Aonz Ooal Gown". Nor did he have his original Shooting Star ring, nott that he'd use it... just to cover up a mistake he made.

She blinked as she realized how bad that place must be if Ainz seemed to lose all hope at the prospect of crossing it.

"So it's impossible then?"

"Impossible? No... Right now, if were to try and cross... I give me making around 20% chance, maybe higher if I'm lucky and don't run into the REALLY nasty stuff there... but 20 or 30% is best I can hope for... you, you die no matter what. You have a 0% chance to make it." Tanya frowned.

"Well then... what's our next move?" Ainz thought.

"We need power... lots of it... world items... or their equivalent. Magic or um Jutsus as they are called, those Tailed Beasts... I need everything this world has to offer to raise my chances of getting through the eight floor... which means we need to go back to that village. Tanya nodded and they both teleported back to the village.

Nothing had changed. Orochimaru's forces were still waging open war against the leaf ninja. At once Ainz summoned every guardian and Hanzo he had created earlier.

"Kill every man that does not have this symbol on him, protect any villagers, women, and children especially... let yourselves be sen helping, do not attack leaf ninja, even if they attack you, ignore them and help them and the civilians," Ainz said pointing to the leaf village symbol of a leaflike symbol. It was actually convenient that he could protect them, with such a simple command. The Hanzo and their support units dispatched to carry out the help.

"Why the savior act now? We literally were watching them get killed minutes ago..." Tanya asked. Ainz just chuckled.

"Because now I have a use for this village... this world, and I am going to start by ruling over this village to amass the power I will need to assault the eight floor... in short, I am going to be the next Hokage... through force," Ainz announced. Tanya understood now.

"Okay, I get what you're doing, what can I do?" Tanya asked. Ainz stroked his chin and thought for a while.

"This new plan of mine is going to put us at odd with Orochimaru... don't engage him, I think he could be out of your league... but kill any of his "elites" or generals you might see... and again, the more leaf ninja that see you do that the better. When or if Orochimaru appears, I will engage him immediately... use this scroll to [MESSAGE] me if you see him." She took the scroll and flew off to look for the stronger ones...

It wasn't long until she saw a short girl with red long hair and wielding a flute, she was wearing a kimono that resembled Orochimaru's... She had weird golem-like monsters at her command... and they were tearing through soldiers and people alike..." This was an elite if she ever saw it... Behind her was a young man with his hair tied back and...four arms. he was using spit to form projectiles and shotting into the crowds of people. Both of them had weird black lines crossing their faces.

"Two on one isn't ideal... but they both look pretty weak..." Tanya studied their attacks... noted they both were ranged fighters, with the exception of the three monsters the girl controlled. A ranged battle was in Tanya's favor anyway so this would be simple enough...

"God, hear my prayer and answer my cry... give me the power to smite my enemies in the name of... Nazarick." Tany's eye's glowed bright yellow as she released an exploding shell that exploded in the area between the two stronger looking ninjas.

The purple and yellow magical explosion shattered the houses and bodies caught up in her attack. the warmth of te explosion washed over her like a comforting noon breeze. But the near-psychotic smile on her face belied the true nature of the heat. Embers and smoke flew from her attack as she smirked in satisfaction.

There was a sensation by her face that caught her by surprise... like a gust of air but... blood? Her cheek had been cut and blood ran down her face. She immediately threw up a shield in time to block a weird golden arrow that bounced off her defenses.

"What in the world?" She was shocked to see someone standing in the crater of her explosion. he seemed heavily damaged... one of his... six arms had been blown off and his body seemed to be covered in a crumbling armor. The weird spider-like man was already firing off another arrow that still could not penetrate her shield.

Her sneering face was the last thing he'd see as she sent a bullet into his head. It failed to crack the armor he had erected around himself but a few more shots in the same spot broke his defense and he died when her bullet finally reached his brain.

"Eas..." Tanya was saying until a huge fist crashed into her side sending her flying into a house. Her shield broke her fall and the punches' impact had been reduced to tolerable levels. She heard the musical notes of a weird flute right before the shadows covered her.

The punches of all three beasts landed just as Tanya launched herself into the air. She spun in a 350-degree arc, looking for her target, she saw the girl with horns and brown skin playing the flute, but the music was too far away for her to make it out.

"Got you..." Tanya remarked as she spun through the air and took aim, then fired. Three bullets flew at the face of the flute playing demon but she was able to deflect the bullets with her flute. Tanya was about to prepare another attack when she saw a boy standing behind her. He was crouched down with open palms and his strange white eyes were focus in on her. A weird green ying-yang symbol appeared on the ground that she stood inside.

"What?" was all she managed to get out.

"Devine... 128 strikes!" the focused lad with piercing white eyes said before unleashing a flurry of strikes that even Tanya could not follow.

"12 strikes, 32 strikes, 64 strikes, 128 stikes." Each attack found its mark and the girl fell to the floor, drool emanating from her mouth as her body had been rendering into near nothingness.

Tanya recognized the boy as the one she's sen in the forest... Neji she remembered his name was. He simply looked at her for only a moment then leaped to continue the defense of his village. He tore through the enemy ranks like they were nothing now that the two elites had been removed.

"Not bad..." Tanya would tell Ainz about this one... he seemed to hold high promise than the rest of the "ninja brats" she'd seen during their trial.

On the other side of the battlefield. Ainz was approaching the captured One Tail. He saw his Hanzo units decimating the units of the invading Ninja force. The Leaf Ninja seemed alarmed at the appearance of these new, powerful, ninja. however, they also quickly realized they were attacking the invading force of the sound village, so at least they knew to trust them on this hectic battle.

"Alright, it seems things are under control on the streets. He saw a purplish yellow explosion aminate away and knew Tanya was also hard at work... it seemed that ring he gave her allows for infinite magic casting on her part... even if she could only cast magic around 8th or 9th tier, with proper Nazarick gear, it could be substantial... and infinite meant a whole other option... Ainz smiled on the inside. All he would have to do is (truthfully) tell her he had no idea how to get her home, and he'd acquire a valuable ally...

There was a ninja, who was facing the One Tail and seemed to be in heavy concentration. He was the one keeping The One tail at bay... that ability would prove valuable during the assault on Nazarick's 8th floor. The man took notice of the floating skeleton coming up behind him. he was alarmed but clearly did not want to release his grasp on The One Tail.

"Who are you?" He called out. Ainz simply laughed.

"Isn't customary to introduce oneself before asking the others' name? tsk..." Ainz said mockingly. The man looked briefly confused but kept a wary eye on the suppressed One Tail.

"Um... very well I am Yamato... who..."

"Ainz Ooal Gown... I am the future ruler of this land, so you would do well to remember my name," He chuckled as he floated past the man who just looked at him with disbelief.

"Wait, what are you..." Yamato called out to Ainz as he floated at The One Tail. Of course, Yamato wasn't the only person looking up at Ainz, this was a purposely public display. What they did not know was that Ainz was layering every offensive buff he could think of that would raise his offensive stats, he was using silent casting, which cost a bit more mana but this was a show after all... a little misdirection was to be expected.

"Okay, Sir Yamato... please release the One Tail," Ainz ordered. Yamato's shocked look just deepened.

"Are you crazy? And why are you giving me orders?"

"I already explained I am your new ruler... so as such I am ordering you obey... or else." Ainz put an emphasis on the "or else" part. the mans eyes darted back and forth thinking about what he should do. But as it seemed he might be reaching his limit on how long he could hold the beast, he did as asked, but jumped away to keep a close eye on this strange situation.

As soon as the wooden beams let go the eyes came back to life in The One Tail. And those hateful eyes centered in on Ainz almost right away.

"Can you talk? Or are you willing to do so?" Ainz called out. The giant monster laughed and rose a massive paw in the air, it slapped at Ainz like a cat swatting a bird out of the air. At least that's what should have happened, instead, there was a huge hole in the OneTails hand where it had hit Ainz. And Ainz still stood in the air, unmoved. The One Tail looked again at it's paw then at Ainz as he pieced together what had happened. Other than the shock however it did not seem to be injured by the hole.

"So... do you wish to talk now?" Ainz said in a cool demeanor, still floating closer to the One Tail.

"EH? IDIOT! TALK TO THIS!" It bellowed as it opened it's mouth and huge masses of chakra energy began to form on collect at it's mouth. Ainz studied the attack and figured this was its strongest ability... perfect.

"TAILED BEAST BALL!" It fired the powerful ball of chakra at Ainz.

"[TIME STOP]" As soon as Ainz cast the spell everything froze, and only Ainz was allowed movement. He simply floated to the other side of the mass of energy and waited for the spell to end. To everyone looking at this, it would appear as if the attack passed through him harmlessly... when in reality he had no intention of taking on an attack liek that head-on, however, it did seem to be made up of mostly negative energy, so Ainz probably would have been alright anyway as he had immunity to dark energy... that simply would not have "looked as cool".

The attack "passed through AInz" and spun off intot he distance, decimating a large area of the village and killing hundreds. The One Tail looked at Ainz in shock...

"HOW... HOW DID YOU IGNORE THAT ATTACK... OR DID YOU SIMPLY DODGE IT SO FAST THAT... NO, I COULD SEE ANY SPEED, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" The creature bellowed at Ainz who was now right up in it's face.

"Oh ho! So now you want to talk! Sorry, but I will be doing the question asking form this point... the first question is... would you like to serve me?" he spoke in voice to that all could hear. The Ginat sand Raccoon opened its mouth, not to attack but in shock.

"WHO... ARE YOU?" The tailed Beast asked in some annoyance that his fun rampage was being put on pause thanks to this weird skeleton looking, man.

"I swear, the manners of this world... anyway, I am Ainz Ooal Gown... submit to me, now, or die here and now." Ainz said with no Bluff.

"Ainz Ooal Gown? I have never heard of you... how are this strong?" It was no longer yelling, it was conversing with him.

"Well for one, I am no human, this body you see is living death... as such I control Death at a whim," Ainz said, he looked at a random enemy ninja and snapped his fingers, casting [DEATH]. The ninja immediately fell over dead. he then looked back up at The Beast.

"And I could just as easily do that to you... size or power does not matter to me..." Ainz stated so all could hear. The Tailed Beast looked like he could tell Ainz was telling the truth in this.

"If that is true... you are more powerful than even he was... hmm, alright Ainz Ooal Gown... I, Shukaku... will submit to you, until such a time I deem you weak enough to rebel against..." Ainz laughed at those words.

"Yes, a fair trade... If I become weak, I deserve to be overthrown. Alright, Shukaku... my first order is to stop this rampage... I may very well turn you loose on another village soon, so fret not. The giant beast looked at him dubiously but after a loud sigh realized it was outmatched. It simply sat in place, putting it's huge paws between it's legs, like a child would when being scolded and told to sit in the corner.

"Return control to the boy, I will call on you when needed," Ainz said. The One-Tailed glared angerly but seemed to comply as it's massive body fell apart, and soon Gaara was laying ontop a large pile of sand.

By now the invading armies had all but been crushed. Tanya had located the remaining generals and was pursuing them out of the village. Gaara was slowly getting up. Ainz landed next to him.

"Hello, Gaara. Are you aware of what has happened?" Ainz asked. Gaara looked down and nodded.

"Are you fine with leaving your village and working for me?"

"I've never known someone stronger than myself... and as I don't wish to die, I agree to follow you," he said lowly. Ainz nodded and clapped once.

"Very good... after all this is cleaned up I want you to meet me at my tower in the forest of death. I will have Tanya lead ones I am looking for to this tower after I've made my announcement."

"Um, I have a question," Gaara said. Ainz looked at him and, motioned to ask his question.

"I have a brother and a sister... I'm not sure what their fate will be after I defect..."

"You want me to take them in as well? The one with the doll and fan, right? Sure, that's fine... tell them to lay low, and I will make them ninja of The Hidden Sorcerery Village... but they won't be welcomed at the tower." Gaara seemed satisfied by that and got up and made his way to find his brother and sister.

"Now then... let's make my ownership of this village known..."

Tanya was in pursuit of two that had markings on their faces liek the two she had beaten earlier. One was very fat, but moved very fast for his size. The other was a thin man with a purple kimono and white hair. They escaped into an open field but as she was flying, keeping up with them was easy.

"Well, this chase has been fun... My Lord, Give me the power to defend my homeland and destroy my animes... amen." She fired another magically infused blast. The explosion incinerated them almost immediately. Only bits of their charred corpses were left. She smirked happily at how powerful this gun she had made her.

"Guh!" there was a sudden surge of pain as some bullets ripped through her arm and shoulder. Her concentration was broken and the impact sent her twirling in the air she sputtered and hit the ground in a crash. She quickly got to her feet. She was heavily damaged already. Her vision was blurry but she made out her attacker. A man in an open chested kimono and white hair was pointing his fingers at her.

"That was an impressive attack, leaving you alive would be troublesome..." he said. He two red sots on his forehead.

"Shit... he's strong... stronger than any of the others..." She realized as she had a shield up, and his attack had broken it. She rolled to the side causing pain but avoiding his next attacks. He was firing something from his fingertip like bullets. She rose her rifle and fired three bursts. He rose his arm, which now had a shield on it made from... bones. He rose it to intercept the attacks but the shield was shattered from her barrage.

"Hmm... that was my second hardest bone density... I am shooting bone, what are you shooting from that weapon?" His question was rhetorical as he was already preparing another volley of bone bullets. She activated her [FLY] necklace and launched herself intot he air. A bone fragment that he fires still grazed her leg, tearing her uniform and sending a spray of blood out behind her as she lifted off.

"Bastard!" She sneered and threw her last grenade at him. But he covered himself in a protective bone shield that absorbed the blast. It did at least block his vision of her which gave ger time to drink a red potion Ainz had given her... he said it would heal her immediately... and it did just that!

Within a second her wounds were healed and all pain was gone from her body, not she just needed to keep ascending until she could get out of the range of his bone bullets. As if to tell her she was still in danger more bone fragments flew past her head... His accuracy at least was falling from this distance.

"Up...we ...go..." Tanya said as she put all of her energy into her accent. She turned and looked down... but it was still night and neither could make out the other... she decided to fall back and report. With a frown, she reluctantly flew back to the village where Ainz was about to make his declaration...

Ainz flew above the city where the leaf ninja were now gathering, or more like being huddled together by his Hanzo force. He had cast a spell allowing his voice to be heard all over the massive village with help of floating undead monsters that would relay his words.

"Ninja of The Hidden Leaf Village. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, the one responsible for saving your village, your lives, and your families. Your Hokage is dead, I know this because it is I who killed him. As of now, I am naming myself the leader of this village. I know none of you will agree with me, but this is a hostile takeover so in 48 hours I will be in the Forest of Death. Anyone who wishes to challenge me will find me there. We can engage in one on one battles or I can take you all on at once, it matters not. The ones who do not attack me, I will assume are willing to obey my new regime and I expect them to be waiting for me in the village, like good subordinates should. I will have my personal unit bared exit from this village, leaving is not an option... obey or die... those are your only two choices." And with that, he left to go to the tower just as Tanya was flying in.

Her uniform was torn and covered in blood but she seemed to be unhurt or at least healed. She told him about the strong ninja she had run into in the plain just now.

"He must be one of Orchimarus' super elites... well I'm glad you made it back." Tanya looked at Gaara who was following behind Ainz, he had a [FLY] necklace around his neck like she wore. BUt he said nothign to Tanya.

"I've made my announcement, we can expect a large resistance from them within the next two days... I will be fighting that alone." Tanya nodded. She understood she would be in the way in a fight that large, again Gaara said nothing. They flew to the tower he had made, which would now serve as his home away from home as he amassed enough power to raise his chances of getting through The 8th floor of Nazarick. Gaara looked up at in, seemingly unimpressed.

"Okay, as of today I am founding a new Nazarick. And you two, Tanya and Gaara, will be my first new Floor guardians... congratulations!" Tanya looked at him confused, Gaara just smiled a dark smile and nodded that he agreed.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE Path of least resistance (Danzo joins Nazarick)

Ainz looked out in satisfaction. It had only been a day and his fortress was coming along fairly well. The progression was by no means fast, like if Aura and her workforce were doing it, but the low-level undead Ainz had summoned to cut down trees and build surrounding protection for his fort. They had mapped out a 2-kilometer diameter for his wall to cover. The tower Ainz resided in was at the center of this.

His floor was the one that opened up into the 8th floor of Nazarick. Luckily nothing from the 8th could leave it, due to certain restrictions. the floor below that was Tanya's floor. She had it outfitted the way she wanted, mostly a place for her to fight, and a personal room she used for relaxation and weapon maintenance.

The floor below her's was vacant, he would need to find a guardian for that floor... he thought about using his last summon stone... maybe if he used it on the 8th floor, in Nazarick, it would summon Albedo like it was supposed to... she would have her Ring of Ainz ooal Gown and that would be that... he'd return in full force and take everything from this world.

"Seems worth the risk... but Tanya wasn't loyal to me, so whoever this summons could be another enemy..." But he also wondered if it would summon another person like Tanya and himself, that is to say, someone from earth (hopefully Japanese) that could help him...

"I'd be enslaving someone though... Tanya was an accident, he didn't know he was going to get her, and she was following him because her needs fit his... He shelved the idea, for now, he still had to put The Leaf village to heel... and he only had another day before his big showdown with whoever did not acknowledge his rule of this village...

He would have whoever did join him fill him in about the rest of the world before makign any plans, for all he knew this Leaf Village could be the weakest of the lot... though that did not seem to be the case...

"Ainz, we have company!" Tanay's voice called out from high above. He looked up at her. She had been flying around the forest for hours now.

"Thay are attacking early?" To be honest he had expected this. But Tanya shook her head.

"I don't think so, it's just one guy." Ainz cocked his head in surprise.

"Alright, I will go out to meet this person." He told her and went to the front gate. A middle-aged man with bandages wrapped all over his body was waiting for him. Upon seeing Ainz he knelt respectfully. Ainz rose his hand for the man to stand.

"You may rise... so who are you?" Ainz asked. The man studied Ainzes face and chest for a bit and stroked his chin.

"Hello, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown... my name is Danzo Shimura. I am the leader of an underground training unit of The Leaf Village called Root... I have come to officially acknowledge you as this village leader... although I had assumed the skull face was a mask... but..." Danzo looked in awe at Ainzes true form.

"Yes, I am the dead given life... with no master but my self." Danzo nodded as if this is what he wanted to hear.

"Very well Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, if I may take a guess... you are not of this world, am I correct?" Danzo also cast a glance at Tanya but quickly returned his attention to Ainz. Ainzes silence told him his answer.

"I am not probing for weakness My Lord... I was just wondering if you might have any questions about this world... as out new Hokage, you should be abreast of the situation..." As this was exactly what Ainz wanted to hear he only had one last request.

"If you would allow me to read your mind, I will decide if you are telling the truth, do not worry i will only look at you inner thought concerning me..." Danzo gave no hesitation and leaned in, presenting his head. Ainz put his hand over it and looked into his memories... Danzo was a man who would do anything to ensure The survival of The Leaf Village, he saw Ainz as overwhelmingly powerful, thus the right ruler for them, power was all that mattered to him.

Ainz smiled. A man like this is exactly who he needed... it seemed his luck was holding out.

"Okay Danzo, I have surmised you indeed only wish to keep your village strong, and you can't currently see anyone ever defeating me, making the perfect candidate... alright, I will talk to you." Danzo smiled and bowed. Ainz led him to a place where they could talk in private, the empty floor of the tower he lived in.

As they talked Tanya decide to see what Gaara was up to, she did not entirely trust him as Ainz seemed to. She found him on his floor, the first one.

"Well, Gaara, how are you adjusting to your new surroundings?" Tanya asked. Gaara simply looked at her and shrugged.

"I just hope someone attacks soon... I'd like to kill more if I could..." He admitted. His room was bare. Nothing, not even a place to sleep, but as he had a ring that eliminated sleep, he was more focused and less moody than he used to be.

"What have you been up to? All you do is sit in here?" Tanya asked a bit worried.

"I've been talking to Shukaku, now that he can no longer take me over when I sleep, he's agreed to work with me... as our goals are currently aligned." Tanya lifted an eyebrow.

"And what is that goal?"

"Become more powerful than Ainz Ooal Gown... but neither of us thinks that is really possible... so our other goal is to bring as much power to this new nation as possible... to bring Glory to Nazarick." He said simply without a hint of sarcasm.

"You care about this place? I mean, it's not much yet..." Tanya knew it would grow, Ainz was powerful, but mostly he was smart and knew how to use victories... he was already proving a more capable leader than the ones she used to follow.

"If he intends to conquer this world... there will be war, a war he can easily win... only a fool wouldn't follow these kinds of odds..." Gaara simply said. So he legitimately sees Ainz as the most powerful... his allegiance could be counted on for now then.

Tanya decided to go back out and continue her patrol in the air. Never needing to sleep had it's benefits, so long as she let her mind rest an hour or so she was fine. The clearing of the forest within their boundaries was coming along well and their supply of wood was being treated to build dwellings outside of Nazarick Tower. These would be used to store the things they would need going forward, as well as house Gaara's brother and sister.

Tanya was a little surprised by the lack of... anyone. She figured there would be some spies... these were ninja after all. But nothing. With the exception of Danzo, not a single person was in The forest of Death. All she could see were the undead Ainz made, carrying the dead bodies of the invading ninja force to the compound, to be created into Death Knights or something called a Soul Eater... she hadn't seen any of those yet but if Ainz got excited about them, they must be seriously strong.

"Well time to go back," as she flew back she saw Danzo leaving, he gave Tanya nod as she flew overhead.

Ainz turned to see Tanya enter the fortress outer gates.

"Out on patrol again?" She only nodded at his question.

"So, what did you learn from that guy?" Ainz looked at the walled getting made.

"A lot, for instance, This Leaf Village is considered the strongest and most influential of the ninja villages. Also, there seems to be less resistance to my ruling as people recognize they cannot beat me... which goes a long way in this world. The mere fact that I am able to "control" the One Tails makes me a prime candidate for their leader... as that was why they chose the "first Hokage". He suggested I make an appearance as their leader soon."

"There will surely be a revolt! How could there not be?"

"Yes, I want to put my third-floor guardian to work on that..."

"Third Floor... that's my title... you want me to be the leader of your "secret police"?"

"The fact that you called it that shows you know exactly what I want from you... and yes. You, along with the Hanzos I assign to you will be the "boogeymen" that come in at night and make whole families... disappear overnight. As I am not concerned about ruling this land in the very long term, something like this will work for the time we are here."

"I don't understand you Ainz... you won't kill needlessly, even spare people, but you have absolutely no problem with wiping out disobedient families?" She looked at him incredulously.

"Wiping out? I will be using them... I put everything to use to further benefit Nazarick, if it is needless, as you said, then it does not benefit us... that is my only real motivation." Tanya already figured that out, it was nice to hear this monster day it outright, however... his skull face still unsettled her. He was looking at the pile of dead bodies that were being collected from the Konoha village battle.

"Furthermore, I've found out there are nine tailed beasts in total... I have two, so I just need the other seven. Danzo knows the location or at least the general whereabouts of most of them, but some might prove hard as most are aligned with another nation, the way Gaara was."

"What about the Naruto brat?"

"His Tailed Beast seems far weaker than Gaara's... about half as strong to be exact... I wonder if there isn't a reason for that since they should all be about the same power as Danzo says. In fact, the Nine-Tails should be the strongest... the kid's father, he had something to do with the sealing of that beast in Naruto... I would need to speak to him probably to find out where the other half of Kurama's power lies..."

"Okay, so where is this guy?"

"Dead... died on the day the kid was born, it's a huge story in this village..."

"Then it's over?" Ainz shook his head.

"Nothing is over... I could probably bring him back to life, but he'd be my enemy, without a doubt. No... after looking through this scroll the last Hokage so graciously gave me... there is a way to bring him back, and under our complete control..."

"Our?"

"Yes, Tanya... I lack the physical requirements to perform any kind of Jutsu. But you on the other hand..."

"Eh? Me? become a ninja?" She suddenly pictured herself leaping about with a katana and throwing ninja stars with a long scarf covering her face. But Ainz chuckling brought her out of her daydream.

"No, I will just need for you to learn a few of the more useful ones we will need in taking this world over, and to get you through the 8th floor... this will be making you more powerful as well, something I was sure you would be fine with." She smiled and wove her hand.

"It is fine.. just unexpected... am I self-teaching or..."

"At first, Danzo assured me the scrolls I have will be more than enough for you to get started if you're talented... Then later, Danzo, in exchange for learning it's secrets as well, will assist you with learning the more advanced ninjutsu... he's also told me about those weird 'eye powers" that some people here have like that Neji kid and his sister have. Apparently, he has many of them on his body, kind of weird but... (Ainz thinks Neji and Hinata are siblings)

"He has eyes... all over his body? What the hell?" Tanya said, shaking her head in disbelief at the weirdness this world held.

"Well fine... but I can't promise anything, all my magical power is either natural or... borrowed... what about Gaara?" She said pointing her thumb at the floor Gaara resided in.

"I've already seen a Jutsu in here that his father used... they don't detail on how to use it, but if I can summon his father... then he could teach Gaara how to... literally turn sand into gold... this interests me to no end, as you would imagine" Tanya stared at him for a bit then nodded.

"Yeah... infinite resources would be nice. So that's your final plan for him eh?" Tanya smiled.

"But all this is after we've settled in... I'm just letting you know my plans..." Ainz suddenly wished he had Demiurge here with him... to ask what "his plans" were. Having the smart kid to cheat off of in class sure was nice... Ainz mused to himself with an inward smile.

"What about the final floor guardian?" Ainz pondered at that question.

"I've thought about using my summon stone as you suggested... but I will try to use it IN the 8th Floor... meaning I will have to make a short trip there, I will try to summon Albedo, like it should, but if it does not, and that person I summon is hopelessly hostile to me, then I will leave them in the 8th floor."

"Okay... sounds like a risk worth taking."

"Again, I will do this only when we get settled here...As for the now, I plan to walk the streets tomorrow as it seems none will 'openly' challenge me. I'll see what heads wish to help and what ones need to be eliminated in their sleep. After I take over I can expect a few questions from the allies of The Leaf Village... let's hope they don't mind war on our enemies."

"Alright, then I will be preparing to escort you tomorrow?"

"That's right, I plan on letting them know you are my second in command. Danzo will be my official advisor as i will need his knowledge of the world still."

"You really trust Danzo that much, after a single talk?"

"I have peered into his mind... and I know his motivations, he only cares about the survival and growth of this village, he sees me as good vehicles for both... there may be others, but my ability to read minds will come in hands in figuring out who to trust."

"Any resistance towards me will be building as we speak... like-minded individuals will come together and talk about best how to overthrow me, then they will need to expand their influence and power base... taking in new members and such... that is when you will be deployed, that is when a new resistance is most vulnerable."

"Okay, well if there is nothing else, I'd like to clean my gun and get ready."

"Oh, on your bed you will find some new clothes and weapons, like your gun, they will raise your physical and magical abilities, as well as a few other things we'll talk about later." She smiled at the prosp[ect of new clothes as hers were torn and bloody from her battle with that bone ninja.

She decided to relax her mind as well and lay down for a bit, even if her body was fine, her mind was racing again.

"Very well, I will be on my floor if you need me." And she walked into the perpetually open door to the floor level of the New Nazarick. Gaara nodded in her direction she returned it and continued up the spiral stair that wrapped in the middle of the floors. Soon she got to her floor and opened the door leading to her personal room.

The outfit was fairly basic looking. Modern area black tactical pants, same for the jacket, the arm had a "Ninja headband" with the Leaf symbol on it. She was glad she did not have to wear that ridiculous thing on her head, that Ino girl looked kind of cute with it on though...

There was a chest armor piece made from fabric she did not recognize, she barley could feel it, was it really going to protect her? Then she remembered how magic in Ainzes could be used. There was also a new handgun that as soon as she held a surge or power, similar to tone her rifle gave her was felt. A combat knife made from an unknown metal that... glowed. And an array of explosives, traps and other useful tools like healing potions and a bunch of [MESSAGE] scrolls, far more than she could carry.

Ainz knew his stuff, she would give him that much. Finally, there was a crystal with an image of a bag on it. She walked down for some explanations.

"So do you like it?" Ainz asked. Tanya nodded.

"Sure, but I miss my old uniform, I wish you could have replicated that."

"Oh, I could have... But German looking things... kind of annoy me, it's a long story." Ainz said shrugging. Tanya just looked at him oddly and also shrugged.

"I made those last night using some data crystals I had on me. (AN= also not from Nazarick, taken from the "NPC shop of volumes 1&2, they got a lot of them) The armor has a health regen enchantment, low level. However, because of your low H.P. it will heal very fast by your standards. It will also stop those "bone Bullets" you told me about. The knife can make an illusion of anyone you wound with it, including yourself. The illusion will last for ten minutes.

"What about the explosives and such?"

"Regular, by Nazarick standards anyway, give yourself more room than normal when using them... I've seen how you like to use grenades close range. There's also Flashbangs, Landmines, self pulling grappling hooks, poisoned caltrops and..."

"Yes, I know what all those are, but how am I supposed to carry all of that?" Ainz pointed to the crystal she was holding.

"That's a "personal space" crystal. Crush it and you will be given a personal dimension that can hold roughly 5,000 pounds of, whatever... nothing living though. She did as instructed and she was able to stick her hand into a purple-black portal and anything she wanted would be brought to her hand... Ainz never stoped impressing her with his gadgets and spells.

"Alright, well thank you for all this, I'll go put the rest of the stuff you made in my space." She left to return to her room.

"Oh, I have those Jinjitsu scrolls that will teach you the basics of chakras control and like in your room..."

"Right, study time... don't worry, I always ace my classes," she said with a laugh.

"Thankfully all the writing is in Japanse so reading it will be easy enough." He told her on her way up the tower.

Soon all the preparations would be done, he'd also geared out Gaara with some magical equipment that would boost earth type powers, but nothing on the level he'd made for Tanya as Gaara's job would ultimately be to most likely die on the 8th floor.

Ainz returned to his floor to prepare for his walk into Konoha Village. He would use the last of his, mercenary summon scrolls, after he spent the rest of the day turning the dead ninja invaders into Death Knights.

By the next day, he had risen over 100 Death knights, 10 Soul Easters, and 12 more Hanzos. They line up for their grand entrance. Tanya and Gaara also stood next to him. Ainz stretched out his hand...

"[GATE]" A large black and red portal opened up. Ainz calmly walked through it, followed by his new floor guardians. Then the army of the dead he had made for his occasion.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN: unexpected guest (Kohona attacked-Who is this before me?)

It was quit. Tanya and six other ninjas wearing ANBU-like animal masks lined up along the wall to the house. Tanya had her rifle out at the ready as she motioned for the three in the back to push up. The fox masked ninjas ran to the other side of the wall where she was crouched at. She made some hand signals, but not ninjitsu seals, she was communicating to her team silently through simple gestures.

"Move up, I will take point," she said wordlessly. She ran up quickly to a closed-door. She activated her physical enhancement magic. After a final breath, she swung around and kicked the door in. Running in with her rifle up she scanned the room. As she did so her ANBU unit ran in behind her. She noted three possible rooms and pointed, each member ran to one to clear it. She took the final room.

"Clear...clear...clear..." She heard her team say one after the other. Her room was also empty. Realizing she had been too late she cursed under her breath.

"They knew we were coming..." Tanya frowned as she looked around the Leaf Village home. It looked like any other home in this village, but it was places like this that rebels gathered to undermine Nazarick.

"Hmm?" She looked over to see a lit cigarette.

"We were close," however... that was good. That meant the enemy had probably just gotten wind of their operation last second, or even as they made their way over.

"Lady Tanya! The backup Hanzo unit had captured the rebels that fled this house." A familiar voice said beyond the walls fo the house. She smiled wickedly, the old rabbit flush trick still worked.

Her lookout was a man she had once killed, but he had proven loyal to her new unit since being resurrected by Ainz... something Tanya just recently learned he could do.

"Have them detained, I will interrogate them personally." She ordered and went to where the ninja were caught.

Shortly after she arrived and saw the rebels. They were in the middle of the street, on their knees. She walked smugly to the captured ninja rebels. A unit of eight Hanzo stood on the rooftops, keeping a lookout for rescue attempts.

"So... who do we have here?" She mockingly asked, putting the rifle to the chin of one of the kneeling rebels. It was a woman, mid-twenties or so. Their ranks made her and the others Jounin, a decent catch.

"So, you were the ones trying to gather information on the tower in The Forest of Death? Lord Ainz had made it clear that the entire area is off-limits to all nonessential members of the Leaf Village. None of them said a word. Tanya slung the rifle over her back and took out her handgun.

"We know the resistance is working together in single-cell units like yours... it's annoying for us to track you all down, so I would really like it if you would tell me what you know about the other cells..." She said putting the barrel of her gun to the woman's head.

"Don't!" a voice called out, but it wasn't the woman, it was a man next to her. Tanya smiled, she had caught a close team...

"Eh? what's that? Did you have something to tell me?" Tanya exaggeratedly asked, driving he barrel roughly into the woman's head.

"Pl.., please, don't kill her... we... we only know what we need to know about the other units... to prevent this exact scenario from happening..." The man said as he looked at his wife. He had tears running down his face and was clearly terrified for her life... he was telling the truth.

"Yes, yes... we know all that though, what I need is something we don't know... if not I'll execute you all here and now." to drive home that point she pulled the hammer back with her thumb on her gun and aimed it menacingly at the wife once more.

"I...we...don't..." he cried. Tanya clicked her tongue as she shook her head.

"Well, that is unfortunate... any last words you'd like to tell your wife before she dies?" She asked snarkily. the woman looked up and shook her head at her husband.

Gotcha! Tanya thought. She had seen the woman try to message her husband to let her die and not reveal whatever it was they knew.

"Okay, well we only need you two then..." she said as she quickly moved her hand to the third, so far silent boy and fired. The gunshot broke the silence of the night, and it was meant to serve as a warning to all who heard it. He slumped to the ground in a pool of blood.

"NNNOO!" Both cried in anguish. She figured he was their son. And they way they were carrying on confirmed that. She smacked the woman roughly across the face with her gun, knocking her out and cutting her head open some. Before her husband could do anything she rendered him unconscious with a rifle butt to the back of his head.

"Take the body to Lord Ainz for processing... Take the lovers here to see Gaara. We'll find out how being buried alive together for a few hours at a time does to their willingness to talk." She ordered the Hanzos. Like moving shadows they had all three members removed from the streets in seconds, only the pool of blood from the boy remained.

Ainz looked out over his town as he read Tanya's report about the last nights round up. It had been a week since he walked in with his undead army and things had moved incredibly fast from there.

Not a single person openly stood against him. His office, as it were, was where the Hokage would meet people, it had a great lookout over the village. With him was his advisor, Danzo Shimura. Danzo had done a fair amount of work for Ainz already. Supplying him with ANBU trainees and other secret units he had.

Danzo's ROOT members also took orders from the new branch of the secret division. While ROOT still concerned itself with the training of the secret forces like ANBU, it now also supplied manpower to Tanya's division of ANBU. they would carry out "domestic operations". This meant finding and routing any undermining efforts of Nazarick's authority in The Leaf village, by any means necessary. Much like she had done the night before.

Ironically, the first volunteering member to join this new unit lead by Tanya was the recently recovered Kakashi Hatake. Serving under the girl that killed him was an odd choice for the ninja. Ainz would think not many people would know about his choice to resurrect Kakashi and the pink-haired girl Sakura.

"I don't care that you brought me back... but you brought back Sakura as well... even if her death was your overall doing... I cannot ignore this final act of returning the lost to us... in near-perfect health. I simply wish to ease this transition of your power into Konoha, to avois as much needless killing as possible." Kakashi would say when interviewed and asked why he now wished to serve Nazarick.

Tanya was given direct authority over Kakashi and Gaara, as well. The three of them lead the secret division and kept the peace. Though Gaara just handled the long term interrogations, being buried alive proved to be a good method.

But the more pressing matter was the village itself. It was now on alert from attack by the Sand Village. Danzo had just finished informing Ainz of the political climate of The hidden Sand, and it all spoke of war.

"So they already have declared war on us? How fortunate!" Ainz chuckled as he read the report Danzo's man had just delivered. Danzo smiled as well. Even before Ainz taking over The Sand would be hard-pressed to defeat The Leaf.

"They seem to think with this new "power struggle" that is happening in Konoha, that this will be their best time to attack..." Danzo simply said as he waited for Ainzes verdict. On a political level, Ainz had given them no choice but to declare war.

The defection of three of there shinobi could not stand in their eyes. Especially the one that had their nation Tailed Beast.

"Alright then... with this, i am free to engage them in open warfare, yes?" Ainz asked, turning to look at Danzo who smiled and gave him a single nod.

"Indeed. They are no doubt rallying their shinobi for some kind of infiltration in an attempt to gather information about this their new enemy. Us." Danzo said as he was mostly thinking out loud. In the past week, Danzo had come to appreciate Ainz for more than just his power, his mind and cunning were equally as terrifying. He watched in anticipation of what Ainz would say.

"I suppose I could just take care of them by myself..." Ainz muttered. That was the expected outcome, given Ainzes unrivaled personal power. He tapped his finger on the desk while in thought.

"But maybe the least amount of effort with the large yield should be done... why not control their information... make it seem like one large attack would work?" Ainz looked casually up the old man who nodded in thought.

"Should not be hard to do, they will be so desperate for intel, they probably won't check it over too much... very well, I will arrange information for their spies to receive word that your forces are divided up at the moment, so one large attack would break our defenses..." He chuckled at how simple this was going to be.

"Our Leaf ninja will fight under your name, you could use this a way to force servitude," Danzo suggested. Ainz leaned back in his chair and pondered that.

"No, I'd rather show them I'm a hands on leader, that I won't hide my power behind my workers... and I'd rather not waste human resources if i can avoid it," Ainz told him. He needed to save those resources for his push intot eh 8th-floor Ainz thought.

"Well, we won't see any movement from them in at least a week, so you can have that to look forward to I suppose" Danzo chuckled.

"Is Tanya still practicing her ninja arts?"

"Oh, yes! She is showing great talent for chakra control, she's already at the stage where she can start learning real jujitsu. I want to ask Kakashi to help tend to her training as well. Anything she learns he will be able to copy... to a certain degree, thanks to his Sharingan. So it could he could be a useful teacher."

"And the fact she killed him and Sakura?"

"I'm sure he will get over it," Ainz rolled his hand nonchalantly.

"Alright, if you think he will make a good teacher... so what about Orochimaru?" At that name, Danzo frowned.

"Well... in the attack, he did manage to get his hands on Sasuke... so whatever his plans for that boy were, he'll probably see them done... shame, he had such good eyes as well..." Danzo remarked with a wistful tone.

"Well, maybe he's done with us then... however unlikely that..." Ainz suddenly stopped talking. Danzo looked at him in surprise. Ainz stood up and looked at the south entrance to the Village.

"Six Death Knights were just destroyed at the South gate... instantly," Ainz said. Danzo frowned. he had not heard of anyone coming or going to that gate. Ainz cast [MESSAGE].

"Tanya, gather up some forces and meet me at the south gate, six Death Knights were just beaten..."

"Rodger, Tanya moving out with Gaara as back up." She said back.

"Well then, let's see who's paying us a visit, shall we?" Ainz cast [GREATER TELEPORTATION].

Ainz appeared at the south gate. There were no Death Knights left and two individuals were making their way past the outer area. They both stopped when Ainz appeared several feet before them.

They both wore long black robes with red clouds depicted and large rice hats to conceal their faces. Ainz could make out that the large one had blue skin and a large weapon on his back. The shorter one simply looked at him with unimpressed eyes. His headband had a leaf symbol on it, but a line was cut through it. The large had a different village symbol, also with a line cut through it.

"Hello... I am the new leader of this village, Ainz Ooal Gown. Who might you two gentlemen be?" Ainz asked. The two exchanged a glance.

"I have this..." The smaller one said to his partner and stepped up to fight Ainz. Yet, Ainz just chucked.

"I'm sorry you misunderstand. I came here to meet you, not fight." Ainz said, taking a nonoffensive position. The blue-skinned one in the back scoffed.

"Do you really think we came here with friendly intentions? We defeated your... whatever the hell those things were, figured that would be enough to let you know our intentions." The blue one said as he unslung his large weapon that was wrapped up.

"The smaller one looked at Ainz in the eye and his eyes changed to a strange three-pointed star. Ainz stood locked in place from the weird eye power. The large one tipped his hat up and laughed.

"Was he that easy to subdue? But should he have more with him?" The blue one asked looking about nervously.

"Indeed... you two have been surrounded for some time actually..." Ainz suddenly said. This unexpected talking from someone who should have been hypnotized drew alarm from the small one who leaped back.

"Oh, that was that 'Sharingan' Danzo was always going on about, right? That would make you... Itachi Uchiha, brother to Sasuke," Ainz said matter of factly. Itacho glared angrily at Ainz. The emotion he invoked told Ainz had figured it out.

"So... who then are you?" Ainz pointed at the large one with the huge weapon. Itachi fell back to his partner and took out a katana.

"Well, you two indeed look tough... put on a good show, will you?" Ainz said as he floated up above them. before they could figure out what he meant the ten Hanzo's that had been tailing them the whole time attacked.

Itachi was clearly the better of the two as he was able to dodge the stealth surprise attacks of four Hanzo, but the fifth, who had waited to strike was able to land a counter attack after Itachi dodged. There was a flash of silver as the Hanzo dove past its target. The strike should have been lethal but he burst into many crows that suddenly made a racket as they flew apart and flapped about widely.

The five Hanzo's moved together to swing at the crows but they were swinging at shadows created by the Ninja. The crows gathered some distance away, making four shadow clones that resembled Itachi perfectly.

"Hmm, so he's stronger than the Hanzo's... interesting," Ainz said stroking his chin. The way he was easily avoiding their attacks told Ainz The Hanzo's would struggle with this fight. The other ones?... Not so much.

"While the blue man managed to block one attack from the Hanzo units, four had found their mark, he stood looking on in confusion as the four units he never saw stood next to him with their katana firmly shoved through his body.

"Damn..." he seemed annoyed by this, he swung the weapon he held in a giant arc, even with the blade in his body. The Hanzo's easily avoided such a strike and fell back.

"Ha...ha... not... bad really... you can call me Kisame by the way..." he chuckled as his wounds glowed with a blue aura. The wrappings from the weapon fell to reveal it had a large mouth at the opening and it's length was covered by jagged barbs. It started to talk or make noise. Kisame look at it confused.

"Eh? What do you mean no chakra? these guys are top-notch strong... they have to have chakra!" Kisame was yelling at his weapon. Ainz wondered if e was simply mad, or if that weird club-like weapon actually was alive... the mouth made it seem so.

The other fight was picking up as the cloned Itachi's were proving to be too much for the Hanzo. Itachi's clones were faster and seemed to be able to read the movements of the Hanzos with their glowing red eyes. The movements form both ninjas were faster than a normal eye could catch, but Itachi was having no trouble predicting the attacks and movements of his enemies.

But unexpectedly Itachis flow of battle changed as The Hanzo's parried some thrown shuriken attacks and it looked as if the Hanzo's were about to win. However, as they all scored deadly trikes on the clones, but instead of popping out of existence they exploded in a blade storm of ninja daggers. Each unit took some damage but were still fine. The real Itachi revealed himself, leaping from a swarm of crows that flew out of the destroyed clones.

"He's not using any eye powers... he knows I'm using this fight to gather information on them..." Ainz mused from his spot high above the battlefield. By now Tanya was flying up behind him.

"Only two guys?" Tanya remarked looking down at the fight alongside Ainz.

"Yeah, but they are very strong... especially that one, stay away from him, he has Sharingan," Ainz warned Tanya, pointing to Itachi.

"Want me to just nuke em?" Tanay asked pulling out her rifle. Ainz shook his head.

"Itachi, the Sharingan user, he interests me... Danzo told me he killed his entire clan, all but Sasuke..." Ainz said as Itachi was now cutting down the Hanzo's.

"You think they are here for Sasuke? He's not even here... Orochimaru has him..." Tanay said shaking her head. As soon as she did a visible change happened in Itachi.

He abandoned offense, at which he was winning. He threw up more shadow clones to aid in his sudden retreat. Ainz smiled at a crow that was circling just above them. Tanya was smart enough to realize what he wanted her to 'casually say'.

At this moment a faltering Kisame realized something was up. He looked at Itachi and realized the ninja was in full retreat.

"Hey! Where ya going?" He called out. But Itachi ignored him completely. Kisame chuckled as he jumped back trying to fallback as well, but he was not nearly as fast or skilled as Itachi and The Hanzos were pursuing him, as well at the other injured five that Itachi was fighting.

"That one is all brawn huh..." Tanya said uninterested. But the man was healing from his wounds as well... so physical damage might not be the best approach. yet the ninja realized his situation, that he was surrounded and Itachi had abandoned him.

"Yeah but he's very hard to kill... just a big bag of H.P. who uses water-based attacks, not as impressive as the other one. That Itachi interests me..." Ainz said in thought. Tanya could guess what that meant, he probably wanted this Itachi as his final floor guardian. But from down below a roar cut through the air as Kisame became more and more desperate to win.

"I have to go all out huh?" Kisame screamed in anger. As a scary amount of chakra pumped form him. Tanya's hairs seemed to stand on end from the amount of chakra he was pumping out. She had become more sensitive to it now and what he had rivaled the One or Nine tails!

"What's he doing? This guys chakra levels are near off the charts... and I'm a novice and I can tell this!" Almost to answer Tanya's question water began to rise from the ground. It kept rising until the Hanzo's were covered in water, but as they were undead, not breathing was not an issue for them. Movement, however, proved to be difficult.

"He changed the entire battlefield to saltwater..." Tanya remark. As water was clearly this guys element he dove in like a shark, moving at speeds he was unable to on land. Ainz gave a mental command for his Hanzo's to cease their attack and to fall back. But several other Kisame appeared to cut off the retreating Hanzo.

"More clones..." Ainz said unimpressed. Each clone used a series of hand gestures and the Hanzo's were imprisoned in a large round water prison.

"HA!... Did it..." the real one remarked in triumph.

"Well? How about it? I have your men hostage, you better listen to my demands..." Even Tanya rolled her eyes at this guys lack of understanding of his situation.

Ainz stretched out his hand and cast [MAXIMIZE MAGIC TWIN DRAGON CHAIN LIGHTNING]. Two massive orbs that resembled the heads of dragons formed in his hand. Tanya flew back a bit to give Ainz room. Ainz pointed his hands at Kisame.

Two white bluish blasts of power fired out and are through the air like screaming death as they ran through all the clones, easily destroying them one by one. The Hanzos were freed and immediately continued to fall back. After the power currents had wasted his clones they all converged onto him.

Kisame, foolishly, tried to avoid the blast by diving down, but the electrified current blew the water into a steaming, bubbling hole, leaving him defenseless for the reconverging dragon-shaped lightning bolts. They released the last of their energy as they slammed into the blue man. Their chain effect allowing them, to bounce from one target to another made this all too easy.

The large amount of water was dispersed as the man was rendered unconscious. He still seemed to be far from critical condition, however... though the lightning magic was more than his brain could handle. He babbled like an idiot, seemingly in shock from the blast, almost how a shark becomes paralyzed when tasered.

"Damn... I hope I can extract memoried form his mind like that..." Ainz muttered in frustration.

"What about the other one?" Tanya asked, looking off in the direction they had allowed Itachi to flee.

"You were right to bring up that Orochimaru had Sasuke where that crow could hear you... I suspect that Itachi is on his way to pay Ochimaru a visit. Either way, we'll try and find out why they were here from him..."

Ainz floated down to Kiasam and picked him up. He used [PARALYZING TOUCH] just to be safe when picking him up. He cast [MESSAGE] to Danzo, letting him know he would be coming in with a high-value prisoner, and a strong one.

"I will have the perfect place made for him My Lord Ainz Ooal Gown," Danzo answered. Ainz looked up at Tanya.

"You can return to Nazarick to contuine your ninjutsu training," Ainz said to Tanya who only nodded and flew off.

Ainz cast [TELEPORTATION] and, with Kisame in hand, appeared deep underground in the ROOT detention area. Sanzo was there waiting for him with a smile when he saw the size of the fish Ainz had brought him.

"This guy is a water specialist... I think he has the most chakra output I've seen to date... careful with this guy." Ainz warned Danzo handing him off.

"If it's the only vast chakra resources he has then there will be no problem. I have a sealer who can seal his chakra and powers easily, worry not Lord Ainz Ooal Gown. Ainz nodded.

"I trust you will be fine, but what I most want to know is why he and his partner came to us... ah that's right, he was Itachi," That name perked up Danzo's ears, as AInz knew it would.

"But he fell back as soon as learn Sasuke isn't in the village any longer,"

"I see... well, the enemy of my enemy then..." Danzo reluctantly said as he realized Ainz did not intend to pursue Itachi.

"When this one wakes up let me know, i want to read his mind," Ainz said as he excused himself and vanished.

While Ainz was playing it cool, deep down it was concerning that powerful opponents were already revealing themselves so early. He looked at the summoning statue as he headed for the doorway that lead to the real Nazarick's 8th floor in an attempt to summon Albedo.

He walked to the top of the new Nazarick to open the portal that leads to the 8th floor. He steeled his courage and carefully walked through. There were any number of threats on the 8th floor, so he hoped he would not encounter trouble.

As he walked through the landscape had once again changed. You could never could count on the kind of terrain you'd encounter, that was one problem, but that was just a basic function fo the 8th floor. The things that lived inside were the real issue.

"It would be nice id Victim or Rubedo could sense me here..." but that would make things far too easy, he sighed. The terrain right now was sand like you'd find in a desert, but raining as well... making the ground a thick sludge and almost impossible to walk in. But Ainz possessed movement freeing gear so walking wasn't an issue.

"SCREEEE!" A loud scream came from around him as several huge claws burst from the mud around him. The bite of this thing could easily kill a DPS spec like his in one clamp. Also, the ground on the 8th floor was littered with these things. He pointed directly at his feet.

"[DEATH]" seconds from being crushed to death his spell, even though just a 9th tier spell took effect. Ironically, a lot of the monsters down here were susceptible to his instant death spells, hence his 20% chance of making it alone. But that was if he also exhausted his world items and other valuable resources.

He held out the statue and crushed it, hoping Albedo would appear. The summoning worked, and the circle appeared. But as he expected no Albedo... there was nobody. Ainz nodded as he thought this would happen. There were many restrictions placed on the 8th floor, no teleporting was one, and this was probably so to that restriction in play still. he was annoyed this was another dead end and returned to the portal, going back to his temporary home.

"Just what the hell kind of Hollow are you?" a voice asked from behind him. Ainz turned to see a young man, about the age of sixteen standing between him and the doorway. he wore a black robe and held a massive sword in his hand. He had spikey orange hair and a nasty look on his face.

"Did he teleport...no, he can't... that must have been speed alone!" Ainz realized that whoever he just summoned was somone he had to take seriously! But before Ainz could.

"L...listen my name is..."

"I don't care what your name is... you brought me here, so you're going to send me back..." he said confidently.

"Wait... I can..." Ainz pleaded but the biy gathered some kind of energy around him as his flowing robes began to flow in some unreal wind...

"BAN...KAI!"


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN= Hearts and kingdom (The unthinkable happens)

Before Ainz even knew what happened the boy's clothes and overall feel changed. His robe was more close-fitting and his blade, now smaller, was completely black. The hard look in his eyes, however, did not change. He kept the blade pointed at Ainz.

"Now... I'll ask again, what the hell kind of Hollow are you? An Arrancar, you kind of look it..." Ainz summoned his (fake) Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. He had figured a battle was coming and had layed several buffs on himself, as well as leave a few surprises around in the area, so he could afford to play it cool.

"I am Ainz Ooal Gown... and I do not know what this "hollow" is that you keep calling me but..."

"Liar... one look at you tells me your a Hollow," But in a black flash the boy was running at Ainz. Ainz did not want to fight on 8th floor... a battle would be sure to draw the things that inhabit this place. He stepped on an area in front of the door.

"GAH!" An explosion sent him flying, but also seemed to do little damage. He recovered, moving easily on the muddy floor. Several claws, like the one Ainz, had avoided earlier clamped around The fighter in the black robe. He spun with a 360-degree slice and cut them easily. Ainz immediately realized he did enough damage to one-shot level 90 creatures. He leaped into the air holding his sword with both hands.

"He'd faster than i am... I can't get the door without leaving myself open..." Ainz thought as he activated [AURA OF DESPAIR V]. He charged through it like it was nothing. In the next instant, he was bringing the black katana against the chest of Ainz. he dove in raking the blade across Ainz, in the same instant he slashed up and then down again. As Ainz stumbled slightly from the unexpected attacks three similar slashes appeared on the chest of Ainzes attacker.

"What the hell?" He clutched at his own chest and glared at Ainz. Who was already holding out his hand.

"[GRASP HEART]". But nothing happened.

"Immune to death magic?" the fact he was injured seemed to calm the attack down a bit.

"Ready to tell me your name?" Ainz asked. The question put a confused look on his face.

"You brought me here... and you claim to not know me... Ainz was it?" He kept his sword up, like he was still ready to strike at any moment, but the return damage the fake Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was powerful and was giving Ainzes attack worry.

"I was attempting to summon a friend of mine... regrettably you showed up instead, and I still don't know your name," Ainz said confidently. The black-robed fighter looked around.

"Ichigo... if you didn't mean to take me here... send me back." He gowled as he squinted at Ainz. Ainz just chuckled.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible... but..." Ainz was stopped by a wave of energy crashing into him.

"Getsuga Tensho!" the power rolled over Ainz, gashing out a huge chunk of his H.P." But a portion of that power fired back and once again his Ichigo with the return damage ability of his staff. The return blast sent back at him hit Ichigo in the chest. He held up his blade, attempting to defect his own blast.

"Damnit... that's an annoying power you have..." He sneered as blood ran down his head. Ainz looked him over, not sure what this boy was. He was clearly not human... as he was immune to simple death magic, yet still bleeds like one? But it seemed physical damage was all this fighter was capable of... he was at a disadvantage as Ainz had plenty of counter mechanics, such as his staff, to foil such builds.

"GGGUUURROOOO!" A low bellowing cry broke the flow of battle.

"Shit... something's coming..." Ainz looked over his shoulder. There was a huge mass of silver and black snake-like tentacles crawling at them. It was a giant ball comprised of these weird long monsters and it was crawling at them at a fast rate.

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo looked in surprise. The look on his face told Ainz he understood how dangerous the thing coming at them really was.

"That thing will kill us if we keep this up... I suggest we try to..." Ainz thought about telling Ichigo about the door but decided against it. Ichigo looked at Ainz and judged he was telling the truth.

"Fine... what do you suggest?" Ichigo asked, gripping his blade tight.

Ainz thought for a second. This boy might be able to be won over like Tanya was... killing him wasn't necessary yet...

"This thing has two phases... in this form, only magic can do damage..." Ainz tried to remember he exact details about this monster. It had a weakness as well, but...

"Magic?" Ichigo looked at Ainz with a surprised look.

"... after it dies, it will resurrect... from then on only physical damage will do." The young swordsman looked at him shaking his head.

"It sounds like it's a boss in a video game my sisters play..." Ichigo said. Ainz looked at him. Until now he had been just a somewhat strong opponent... so he has sisters? He did look somewhat Japanese as well, but still a student maybe? If nothing else Ainz would like to question him about his homeworld.

"You could think of it like that... for now, I need you to run interference for me... I need to hit this thing hard before it enrages." Ainz fell back a few paces. Ichigo looked unsure but decided Ainz wasn't lying about this. A large blue casting bubble appeared over Ainz as he began channeling a super tier spell.

"Magic huh?" Ichigo muttered as he cast his gaze back at the huge mass of giant snake-like tentacles.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo fired off another huge blue arcing blast that tore the wet ground apart in its wake. It sheered a large section off of the monster. Black blood sprayed from it's giant gash that ran along up the center of it's body.

"SSSCCCCCRRREEEEEE" It let out a mind paralyzing scream. Ainz was immune to this status effect but it dropped Ichigo to his knees. Ainz thought it was odd he had instant-death immunity somehow, but no simple paralyzing resistance.

"Guuuhhh...can't...move...grrr..." He screamed in frustration. Yet ironically he had done his job perfectly. Because the monster had to stay still to keep Ichigo down as it was a 'channeling spell' that is to say, it only took effect so long as the caster poured focus and mana into it. The monster probably assumed Ichigo was the caster, or at least he had drawn it's agro. This commotion had bough Ainz the time he needed.

"[FALLEN DOWN]" A white-hot blast of radiant energy came crashing down and enveloped the huge beast. The torrent sundered the wetland and completely dried it out in a hot shockwave that also ceased the rain in the area as the water evaporated. The blast even hurt Ichigo's eyes just to look at. Finally, the cascading holy power stopped and in the center was just a fried mount of what looked like overcooked sausages.

"What... that... what did you do? That wasn't a Cero but it was just as strong as one..." Ichigo muttered. Ainz took note that thing boy was able to compare something from his world to a Super Tier spell... his interest in this lad kept growing and growing. Ichigo just stood and looked at Ainz.

"You are the weirdest Hollow I've ever seen... what is your number? You have to be Espada right?" He glared angrily at Ainz. Ainz shrugged.

"I'd love to talk to you, but your job is just beginning..." Ainz said pointing at the cooked monster. Ichigo glanced at it quickly and noticed it was indeed moving once more. The smoking mass of meat shuddered and quivered then exploded in a gore-soaked rain of blood and meat, luckily they were too far to get caught in that gross drenching. But what stood in the center of that explosion was a burning mass. It looked like floating pieces of evil black armor. A Faceplate that looked demonic, leggings and gauntlets. They floated, attached to a burning blue flame.

"Remember, your ranged attack won't work, you have to hit it from here on out..." Ainz wondered if he would use it just to see if Ainz was lying but he ran in with incredible speed. Speed far to fast for Ainz to keep track of. The burning demon also could not track Ichigo. In dark blur, like a darting shadow, Ichigo cut the monster from all sides, each attack carving huge chunks of H.P. from the monster. It would try to react to his slices but by the time it was attacking, he was already attacking it's exposed side. The fact that Ainz could not read his movements was worrisome... if not for the (fake) Staff of Ainz Ooal Gowns auto-attack feature, the fight with Ichigo would have been much different.

"RooAAoooOOO!" the flame demon yelled as it made a huge burst of fire around it.

"DAMNIT!" Ichigo cursed as he was thrown back several yards landed hard. The Demon turned to face the downed Ichigo but that was the moment Ainz had been waiting for.

"[MAXIMIZE MAGIC, REALITY SLASH]!" Ainz wove his hand through the air, using his strongest physical attack he knew. The reality rending blade cut the monster in half. The Fire exploded in another area of effect burning blast and then the floating armor pieces fell to the ground with loud clanks. Ainz made his way to Ichigo, making sure to loot the armor pieces that fell from this monster, he'd have to inspect them to see what kind of data crystals is had and if he could use them or not.

However, Ichigo was already up on his feet and baring his blade at Ainz. Ainz sighed loudly.

"Really? must we fight? I'd like to talk..." Ainz pleaded, holding up his hand in stop motion.

"What would we have to talk about?" Ichigo spat.

"Are you from Japan by chance?" there was no flinching in Ichigo's face, that fact sis nothign to him... so his situation was different than Tanya's and himself. he simply nodded slowly.

"Do you know of a Being X?"

"Humph! Is that the name of your Zanpakuto?" I can tell you're already in your 'Resurrección' state... so don't lie to me about not being an Arrancar! What is your number?" he bellowed angerly as his blue eyes darted cautiously to Ainzes staff. Whatever this boy is used to fighting, it clearly is or resembles undead... unfortunate. Ainz shrugged.

"Well, I was one of the founding members of the 41 supreme beings... certainly Touch-me would be the first..."

"You're not the first? So you're lower than one, but not by many right?" Ichigo asked putting his hand to his face for some reason. Ainz felt there was miscommunication going on, but the lad looked dead set on fighting, it could not be helped.

But then Ichigo did something that caught the attention of Ainz. He summoned a huge amount of dark, negative energy and it seemed to be collecting on his face... he brushed his hand to the side and he was wearing a mask. It made his face look like a skull, with red marks on one side of it. His voice and demeanor also changed. He held his blade tot he side, in full confidence. Ainz could hear his breathing. Whatever he had done... the power that he was using resonated in Ainz. Ainzes racial perk of [UNDEAD BLESSING] was telling him what stood above him was undead.

"What... is this feeling?" Ainz muttered but he was already in the air from an attack that happened too fast to see. just as Ainz realized he had been the was already getting hurled to the ground.

"GAH!" Ainz grunted as he looked up, to see Ichigo staring down at him with piercing yellow eyes.

"Filthy Hollow... know you brought this to yourself..." Ichigo apparently was taking the return damage still from the staff... he just no longer cared. Ainz did some quick calculations. He had to have done them wrong... it meant Ichigo was breaking the level 100 cap...

"Right now he's over Level 100..." technically, fully buffed as Ainz already was so was he... but the change was drastic... when full buffed Ainz was maybe a level 110... this felt more than that.

Ichigo held his blade up in the air once more...

"Getsuga Tensho!"Ichigo's voice was wavey and dark... like he was no longer human. It was the ranged attack he had used before, but many times more powerful flew at Ainz.

"[TIME ST..." Not enough time. The strike hit Ainz. The explosion from the blast even launched Ainz into the air. But the lack of pain meant even as Ainz sailed helplessly through the air he was already preparing another spell. He silently cast [PERFECT UNKNOWABLE] Aided by the cloud of dust and dirt Ichigo's previous attack had kicked up.

As expected Ichigo could not see or sense him. The masked Ichigo looked around with loud grunts out of frustration.

"Hiding won't help you!" he cried out as he swung his blade over and over where he stood. Each swing firing off a blast of power like he had been using earlier. Ichigo filled the area with attacks but they seemed to be lacking he buff from the last attack as they were coming out in rapid succession. As such, Ainz was able to sidestep the wild attacks with relative ease. Ainzes H.P. was getting too low for comfort... but Ichigo seemed to be all power and nothing else, yet he also seemed to be unhurt.

"His gear, with the exception of the sword, isn't anything special either, Ainz thought as he readied his surprise attack. The gap in power was being filled in by Ainzes Devine tier gear, but just barely.

Ainz made his way to Ichigo who still had no idea where he was, until Ainz appeared directly in front of him and was reaching at his face.

"GGGRAAAAHHHH" Ichog screamed as Ainzes hand grabbed his face. Just making physical contact with Ainz was wreaking havoc on the boy's body. Ichigo grabbed Ainzes arm but this just caused his hands to hurt as well. Ainz used [PARALYZING TOUCH] and Ichigo stopped struggling and went limp on Ainzes hand. His ragged breathing became louder and angrier.

"You... what did you do to me? GGRAAHHH!" he screamed in dark anger, but it was all he could manage under the effect of Ainzes status crippling effect. Ainz picked Ichigo high into the air then swung him to the ground in a flipping motion, a huge impact was created by Ichigo's body crashing to the earth under Ainzes strength. Ainz again picked the helpless and suffering Ichigo intot he air.

"[TRIPLE MAXIMIZE MAGIC CALL GREATER THUNDER]!" three, huge arcing lightning bolts came crashing into Ichigo, accompanied by more smaller arcing blasts that electrified everything in the area in one giant release of power.

"RRRRAAAAA!" Ichigo, again, bellowed in pain and rage as his smoking body hissed from the heat and energy that just coursed through it.

"Looks you're about at your limit huh?" Ainz asked looking into the hate-filled yellow and black eyes of his opponent.

"It's a shame so many of your stronger abilities deal negative energy damage... I might have been killed by your attacks if not... and even if you are operating at a higher level than myself... yous till have no paralyze resistance..." Ainz mused as he began to crush the mask of Ichigo. Well, not so much as crush it pulling on it. Ichigo's eyes began to panic but never lost their hate-filled glare.

"WH..." There came such an explosion of energy that Ainz was sent flying away, and losing gis death grasp on Ichigo as well.

"Another monster attack!" Ainz looked up and saw a huge dragon-like creature descending on them. This was one of the strongest monsters on the 8th floor, a nether dragon. To let a danger like this sneak up on them, was a fatal mistake... but Ainz had been too caught up int eh battle to realize this thing was approaching. It had it's giant mouth open and was charging its breath attack.

"Wait... it's still charging, then that last attack was..." Ainz was figuring out the attack had come from Ichigo somehow. Just as he was thinking that the Nether Dragon stopped and was suddenly ripped in half. Ainz looked up in shock at what floated between the giant hunks of the dead dragon that were falling to either side of it.

His entire body was white, save for a pitch-black arm and marking on his chest. His face no longer looked like a mask, but part of his body and he had grown massive horns. His hair now flowed as long as his body. He had gone through a whole-body change... what was before Ainz was not human... He just looked at the dragon in disinterest hen focused on Ainz who was getting up.

The aura Ichigo was radiating now was pure negative energy. Then huge amounts of that negative power collected at the center of Ichigo's new long horns. It powered up and formed a huge ball. The power was so dense Ainz had no way of rating it... this spell he was casting already was using up more power than [FALLEN DOWN]. Meaning he was about to use an ability that surpassed Super Tier magic...

"Incredible..." Ainz muttered. The ground around them was shaking and starting to break apart. Likewise, even the air around them was so charged with Negative energy Ainz was getting a boost from just standing this close this much dark power. Ainz tried to gauge his level now... but what Ichigo had become was out of his range... He had this much time to guess because Ichigo was still charging the massive spell. Then, at last, he fired. But Ainz already knew what he was going to do...

"[TIME STOP]" The world around Ainz stopped, even the giant mass of energy and the thing that was once Ichigo were still slaves to time and space... just power and no function or adaptability was always easy to overcome. He now had to risk it all on a gamble. Even with this much power at his command, Ichigo seemed to have no resistances other than instant-death... so there was a slight chance this could work as this combo ignored any kind of level or damage...

"You would like this Zesshi..." Ainz muttered and moved to stand behind Ichigo. Time resumed once again. Ichigo spun around but was just short of the time he needed to interrupt Ainz.

"[TURN ETHEREAL]" In YGGDRASIL, thanks to a lot of players griefing much lower level players the devs added a spell that, while not a total save, would be a chance of escape, so this particular spell would have no level resections when it came to casting against a higher level opponent.

Ichigo slashed at Ainz but his sword passed through him harmlessly. He unleashed a flurry of strikes that could rend mountains into rubble but Ainz felt not so much as a gust air. He had changed Ichigo's body, temporarily, to that of an Etheral being. He could not interact with anything in this realm for the next five minutes. Yes, he still tried, smashing and attacking Ainz like a mad monster, but still to no avail.

Players would cast [TURN ETHEREAL] on themselves to run away while they could not be harmed, however, being Ethereal had one major weakness, other than its lack of offensive ability, and that was you had a chance to get instant-killed by a particular spell. And in this non-game world... with it's lack of 'friendly fire off' and as the reverse was also true, some spells could be cast on enemies that once could not in the game world... [TURN ETHEREAL] was one such spell.

"[ASTRAL SMITE]" And with that, the combo was complete and Ichigo was... gone. No huge explosion, no giant scream, just... gone. He would have to thank Zesshi next time he saw her, as she was the "inventor" of the combo Ainz had just used.

Ainz stood immediately looked and around. There might still be more resident monsters closing in. Luckily the dead Nether Drake was the only monster around.

_Clack clack_

Some noise caught Ainzes attention and he looked to see what the noise was. In the place that Ichigo had been standing before Ainz saw the mask that Ichigo had been wearing during their fight.

"Eh?" Ainz walked over and picked it up. But as soon as he touched the mask its negative energy poured into him. Ainz felt like he was about to get hit by a tidal wave of power, it was an unfamiliar and yet still very familiar feeling...

"What is this... feeling?" Ainz wondered but then hie eye's flared with knowledge of what was happening to him. Something that hadn't happened to Ainz in a very long time... Ainz Ooal Gown, leveled up.

**(AU= Ainz is referring to my previous volumes where Zesshi Zatsumei has joined Nazarick. And I know I took liberties with how effective [ASTRAL SMITE] probably should have been... Other than that I hope you liked the fight, it was one I've wanted to write for a while and this seemed a good place to do it, but I am done with adding 'cross over' things in for now.)**


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE= Build

Ainz, while confused, knew he had to get out of the floor. Luckily, nothing harrassed Ainz and he was able to make it back to the portal.

Ainz looked at his hands, he was expecting them to be trembling, but they did not. He could feel it... an increase of power... he felt stronger. He had leveled up... and not just once or twice...

"Twenty-one..." He had leveled up twenty times... Ainz had no idea what to do. He somehow knew he would be able to learn more spells... or even abilities... his mind was a torrent of questions.

"Do I go further down racial levels? Or do I level these up into my Warrior knowledge? I could gain actual warrior abilities... and not need to use [PERFECT WARRIOR]. This was a wish he had always wanted... if he met another Level 100 player... he'd probably beat them easily now. But he did not have to decide now luckily, he could even add abilities and spells on the fly as needed.

"No... racial classes would give me the most benefit," he muttered to himself.

"Ainz? Where have you been?" Tanya's voice cut in suddenly.

"I um... I'll fill you in later, what's going on?"

"We've spotted the forces of The Sand Village. They have moved like you said they would, en masse."

"Alright, I will meet you and Danzo in the Hokage tower in Kohona, we'll plan a battle strategy." Ainz used [TELEPORT].

In the room was a large map of the area. Ainz had seen it many times. Tanya looked at Ainz with a raised eyebrow as soon as she saw him.

"You... look different, are you okay Ainz?" Tanya asked. Danzo frowned at her familiar tone but said nothing.

"It's fine... what did you want to talk to me about precisely?"

"The Sand has made their move, they are coming with all their forces that they could muster, they will probably be here in a week or so as they are marching out in the open... this is causing panic among the Leaf... our allies,"

"Let them know we do not wish any backup or help, this is a personal issue between our two nations."

"I have taken that liberty already, because of what you said about..." Ainz raised his hand to show it was fine.

"I will handle their army personally. That hasn't changed." Ainz realized this would be the perfect chance to try out any new spells he might choose to learn... or just go with an old favorite..." This time Danzo and Tanya exchanged a glance and shrug.

"Okay, well in the meantime... we've discovered quite a bit from Kisame, first off he works for a group called Akatsuki... they are officially labeled as criminals. This one and Itachi were after the nine tails.. though, it seems Itachi had his own agenda."

"So, then there is someone pulling their strings?"

"Perhaps, but he's given us the location of a few of the known members, best he knows, as they operate in independent groups or duos. In particular, there are two I think would join us... They are called the zombie combo..." Danzo shot a glance at Ainz then kept going

"Kakuzu... he is a simple mercenary, simple money will win him over. yet he'd be worth any price he asked... he's very powerful among shinobi. His partner Hidan is weird one... he seems to worship death, or at least a god of death... I don't think it too far fetched you could convince him you are this god of death... these two would rope useful to us going forward in gaining military strength, as you have asked us to do." Ainz nodded in satisfaction.

"And the others?"

"Unfortunately these were the only two he had any knowledge on as they were somewhat well known before even joining their organization. There is another, but he seems to be deep in Sand Territory, whereas the other two are easily approachable, given your ability to Teleport.

"Very good... I need to make some personal preparations first, is there anything else?" Tanya handed Ainz a scroll with a list of names.

"These are the recent insurgents I caught when you were... busy, but there is nothing much else to report."

"Good, I will be on my floor."

Ainz felt his stats grow from just the base growth of leveling, plus he had some points he could manually add... then there was the decision of where to assign his remaining 20 points...

Health Points= 60 ^ 80 (Increased by 15 points+5 from growth)

Mana=? (Limit already exceeded)

Physical Attack= 35 ^ 40 (5 from growth)

Physical Defence= 70 ^ 75 (5 from growth)

Agility= 40 ^ 45 (5 from growth)

Magic attack= 90 ^ 100 (5 from growth 5+5 manually added, now maxed)

Magic Defence= 95 ^ 100 (5 from growth, now maxed)

Resistance= 95 ^ 100 (5 from growth, now maxed)

Special= Unchanged (Already maxed)

He also had 20 points to put into racial/job classes. Given his current loadout, there was one class, in particular, he always wanted to try. To unlock it he would need to finish his job of "Necro Mancer".

In truth, this was a kind of waste as the last 5 points of Necro Mancer only gave more control over undead... something he already had in spades. But that allowed him to max out all 15 levels in Warlock.

Warlock was a high damage caster class. The reason Ainz was interested by it, were a few spells. These were the new spells Ainz would choose to learn...

[CONVERT LIFE] An 8th tier spell. A useful but risky spell that would allow the user to turn their H.P. to Mana at a 3:1 ratio. What made this particularly useful was this was it was instant cast, meaning you could use this even when out of mana the spit second you needed to use another spell... a great trump card to catch players off guard when they think you are oom (out of Mana) and on the ropes, but it had a 24 hour cooldown, so you needed to make it count. This was to prepare for the day he would face down another hostile player, should that day ever come.

[DISINTEGRATION RAY] A 10Tier spell. It fires a powerful green beam from the user's fingertip. This attack ignored all physical and Magical defense but was very easy to dodge as the user literally was pointing to where it would shoot. However, any player killed by this spell could only be resurrected by some of the most powerful revive spells there was in YGGDRASIL (unless they wanted to take the 5 level loss and wake up in their guildhall or temple). As such anyone Ainz would kill with this or the other world would probably never be resurrected. As good as this effect was it was still mainly used in PvE as Monsters would seldom dodge the large damaging beam and it was rather "mana friendly" so it could be cast multiple times without worry.

[POWER WORD: KILL] A 9th Tier spell. A spell that had relatively low chance to work (a little higher than DESPAIR AURA 5) Yet this would be boosted by his 'Master of Death' Job. He could simply tell something to die. It had an even higher chance to work if the user could hear them. Combined with [MESSAGE] this spell was a great potential assassination tool. Especially now, as you had no way of "rejecting a message" in this world. Ainz figured he could kill using [MESSAGE] plus [POWERWORD: KILL]... the potentials would be endless.

[POLYMORPH] A 7th tier spell that allowed the user to change themselves or another person to any species they wanted. This was considered a "buff" so it could be undone if the target did not like the species were chosen. the effects would last indefinitely or until the person who was polymorphed received at least 1 Damage or fell under any "debuffs". this would be another multi-use tool.

[NETHER BLADES] An 8th tier spell. Blade made from magic Appears on the user's arms. They extend about four feet past the hands-on slightly arching blades. Only usable with . of 40 but scaled from . It was rare to see this spell as it was no "min-max" friendly but the 40 points he needed were reached naturally... so it would make a great close combat alternative when in caster form. The blades inflicted slash and negative damage.

[DEAD AGAIN] An ability that made any corpse or body slain by Ainz explode with negative and Poison damage when he chose.

[SNAP FREEZE] A Super Tier Spell. When cast it would instantly drop the temperature around him to sub-zero (about 25-foot radius). Any water is instantly frozen and any fire would be extinguished instantly. Anyone without subtle protection would be encased in ice and take constant cold damage as well as take heavy initial cold damage. Even breathing in the affected area would do damage and cause a [SLOW] effect. While not necessary, players would cast this spell by "snapping their fingers" at the last second, for style. Cold immunity was still not enough to negate all the damage or effects.

Ainz could learn more spells still but he figured keeping those slots open "for a rainy day" would be a good call.

He had not realized but he had been at it an entire day. Ainz had decided how he would deal with Sand Attack. Honestly, he would like to spend more time tinkering with his build.

"Danzo, have our soldiers gather to fight the sand Ninjas... I simply wish them to withness my fight," Danzo chuckled at the thought of that.

"You like putting on shows, don't you Lord Ainz Ooal Gown?" Danzo asked with a smirk.

"Perhaps... but anyway, I think I should go look for these two other Akatsuki, do we know where they are?" Aizn asked. Danzo pointed to a village out of the way.

"They were last seen here, and we don't know what their objectives are but, this is a good place to start... I have ANBU searching the area, so it won't be long till we find them.

And it wasn't long... Ainz was summoned using Ninjutsu when the team had located the Akatsuki members Danzo had told him about. They were walking side by side down a plain dirt road in the middle of a field, not hiding at all.

Ainz simply stood in the middle of the road, waiting for them. They walked within 40 feet and stopped. The one on the right had combed back hair and had a scythe type weapon on his back. The one next to him had a hood and mask on, both wore matching robes of black with red clouds.

"You two must be Hidan and Kakuzu... of Akatsuki," Ainz said matter of factly.

"You know who we are yet you oppose us alone? You must be a fool..." Kakuzu, the hooded one, said.

"How did you even know us in the first place you bastard?" Hidan barked out. Ainz rose his hands slowly to show he was not armed.

"Your comperade, Kisame was kind enough to provide me with your information.

"Kisame? That bastard betrayed us?" Hidan scowled and swung his weapon in front of him.

"Indeed, he has, as has Itachi I believe... but I don't know his whereabouts yet," Ainz explained. Hidan looked nervously at Kakuzu.

"This guy might be trouble if he beat Kisame sand Itachi... maybe we should..." Hidan was saying but then noticed Ainzes face.

"H, hey... what's your deal anyway, you look like a walking skeleton..." Hidan asked. Ainz walked closed and into the sunlight more so he could see that was what he was basically.

"No...way... hey... what..." Hidan slowly walked towards Ainz but not in an aggressive manner. His approach was much more curious looking.

"Hey Hidan, don't get too close..." Kakuzu warned. But Ainz chuckled.

"If I wished to kill you both, you are well within the range for me to do so... I am not here to start a fight however," Ainz said calmy.

"H...hey Kakuzu, this guy is dead... or um..."

"Undead, is the phrase you're looking for, and I am the uh, God of Death, and I've come to bring war to this world. As such, you two would make good soldiers I think." Ainz said, still in a calm tone.

"So it's true, the new Hokage of the Hidden leaf is not human... we didn't really believe this at first but..." Kakuzu said astonished.

Hidan was no very, very close to Ainz and did not show any signs of slowing down. He walked up to Ainz, standing directly in front of him. His eyes darting around Ainzes large form. He dropped his scythe and reached out, placing his hands on Ainzs face.

"A real... god of death... right here..."

"Um... yes, could you stop touching me... wait you should be in pain from touching me?"

"OH! I am! It's incredible! Pain from just a touch... there is... please..." Hidan began to shake then fell to his knees before Ainz. he looked at his hands which were hurt.

"ALLOW ME TO FOLLOW YOU MY GOD OF DEATH!" Hidan suddenly pleaded as tears ran from his eyes, he still held ontop Ainzes foot, ignoring the pain once again. What the hell is this? I was expecting this guy to fight me first? Ainz was trying to maintain his cool but this display was a little more than he was expecting. While he liked how easy he was to win over, the crying was a bit much...

"Hey Hidan, are you seriously just leaving us like this?" Kakuzu asked raising his hands in disbelief and caution. Hidan turned back, still crying. I've finally found my God and you expect me to follow those idiots? hey... this means we're enemies now right?" Hidan asked getting up. Ainz raised his hand.

"Maybe not... Kakuzu, I was told you are a mercenary... and that you will work for the highest bidder... correct?" Kakuzu looked at Ainz silently but nodded with his eyes.

"Well I control the funds of The leaf Village, Tell me your price and I'll triple it... when the war is finished we can renegotiate your continued service, so how about it? Become a Leaf ninja?" Ainz asked. Hidan was still on his knees and looking up at Ainz with a weird smile. It reminded Ainz of how he would cathcShalltear gazing at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

Kakuzu nodded.

"If you are seriouse about that price... then yes, you can count me as an ally, for the time being," Kakuzu reluctantly said. Ainz nodded in satisfaction.

"Good then. Well, please report to The Leaf Village... your status will be made known to the guards I will see you th..."

"Wait!" Hidan suddenly cried out, he was holding his hands in like a payer now.

"Please let me travel back with you!" Hidan begged. Ainz scratched the back of his head, this was awkward.

"Um, uh, sure... okay..." Ainz agreed and a look of joy spread on Hidan fac, he threw his arms around Ainz and held on... he was acting just like Shalltear now... Ainz kept his composure even as Kakuzu shook his head in disbelief.

"Well... uh, Kakuzu... I'll see you at The village for your payment." Ainz then cast [GREATER TELEPORTION], taking Hidan and himself back to the leaf village.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Inner turmoil (Dangerous training begins)

Tanya was in a secluded area of the Forest of death. She had the huge scroll opened in front of her.

"So it should be tiger, dragon, tiger... " Tanya said as she read the giant scroll and mimicked the hand signs. She felt her chakra begin to form in her hands. She held the power in her hands and changed it to the element she wanted.

"Lightning Butterfly Dance Jutsu!" She spun and put her arms out. Hundreds of blue butterflies came from her hands. They flew around her and would fly in the patterns she wanted. She smirked at how they obeyed her.

"Incredible..." She remarked as she rose her hands up. The many lightning butterflies flutter all about, then detonated. For every butterfly a lightning burst appeared, destroying all the trees around her. the entire area around her reduced to a smoking ruin.

"Not bad, you're already using Jutsu that's considered top elite class." Kakashi said as he watched Tanya. She wiped her brow they had been at it all morning and it was coming up on noon. She frowned.

"I really need to learn this resurrection one... bringing back the dead under my control would be far too useful..."

"We, Orochimaru was the one who apparently perfected that one, you'd probably to talk to him to really learn it proper..." Kakashi said looking over the Jutsu. Even he could not replicate the enslaved resurrection Jutsu.

"You've learned lots of useful ones so far... I'm sure Ainz will be proud." Kakashi said with a smile(?) She rolled up the scroll and slung it to her back. But their talk was interrupted by something strange. The ground was trembling and they could hear screaming.

"What the?" Kakashi looked up as did Tanya. Tanya and Kakashi ran to the location of the screaming, it was Nazarick.

"Wait... that's Ainz!" Tanya said in shock as they grew closer, and the trembling was stronger.

"Damnit, none of us can access his floor..." Tanya spat as she arrived. Gaara was there to, he shook his head as to say "I don't know either".

"Is there anything we can do? It sounds like he's... in pain?" Tanya asked in surprise. Hidan was now running up now with a terrified look on his face.

"Is that Lord Ainz Ooal Gown? What's going on we need to help him!" Hidan screamed he looked to be about to claw at the door madly. Tanya sighed and shook her head.

"None of us can access that floor... Whatever is going on, until Ainz can open it... we're stuck here!" Tanya reminded the panicking worshiper of Ainz.

"For now, I and Hidan will remain here... make sure the area is secure, if this is an attack then there may be more enemies." Kakashi and Gaara nodded and ran off to spread her order.

A few minutes earlier... Ainz stands in his room on his floor.

"Alright, let try out some of my new spells... the one he was most anticipating was [POLYMORPH]. The prospect of returning to a human body, even temporarily, meant he could eat again... among other things. He was certainly excited to experiment with learning ninjutsu...

He rose his hands, a bit dramatically, and cast [POLYMORPH]. But instead of turning human, he was transported...

"What the hell... where..." Ainz looked around. He was still in his undead Overlord body but the world he stood in was not the ninja world. He looked up and the skies were a gloomy dull smokey grey and brown. The air was thick and seemed artificially purified.

Ainz stood on top of a tall large tower and looked down. The street were completely empty. He looked around, realizing he was in his original world... the world of Suzuki Satoru. Yet on all the building and flag poles flew the flag and sign of Nazarick.

"How can this be?" Ainz wondered but then it struck him. No cars... no vehicles, no drones... there was absolutely nothing. This was not real? had he been trapped in a Jutsu upon turning to a human?

"Well... glad we finally have a chance to talk..." A sarcastic voice called out. Ainz turned around and saw Ichigo. No, his skin was pale and his hair white. He had evil dark eyes. He looked like Ichigo but clearly was not.

"Who are you?" Ainz asked. It was then Ainz realized he had none of his gear... he was only wearing a black robe, similar to the robe Ichigo was wore when he had said that "Bankai" thing on the 8th floor. But his staff and all his Devine gear were gone... he had nothing on him... even his rings were gone.

"Well... that's a complicated story, let's just say I was in that kid's body you destroyed... and you were dumb enough to pick up that mask... so I'll be taking over your body now!" The Ichigo lookalike cackled madly. A black blade appeared in his hand and ran at Ainz.

The speed was just as fast as Ichigo had demonstrated when wearing the mask last time they fought.

"Shit..." Ainz raised his arms to intercept the blade. The white-haired boy was fast, but the blade was stopped by Ainzes arms. He still had all his racial passives at least as the slash damage was heavily reduced and the blade only cut into his boney arms a bit. He pushed back and knocked his weapon into the air, then returned an attack and punched 'Ichigo' in the gut. The impact sent him flying away.

"[MAXIMIZE MAGIC GRAVITY MALESTORM]" A swirling mass of dark gravity met 'Ichigo' in the air, slamming him into the next building. The impacted caused the building to cush in on itself.

"So I'm in some... fake world? No... I'm in my own mind! I'm fighting for control of my body against this thing?" Ainz muttered as he waited for the kid to clear the rubble. As expected, black dark shot from the mess and landed away from Ainz.

"Jesus... that's some strength you have... you're not gonna make this easy?" The white-haired swordsman mocked. Ainz noted the kid wasn't hurt much, even though that attack should have done good damage. But suddenly there came a voice from everywhere!

"Lord Ainz? Lord Ainz... where are?" It was the voice in the air. It was booming down from everywhere around them... it was [MESSAGE] and the voice was a familiar one... Aura?

"Aura?" Ainz asked back.

"LORD AINZ!? OH My..." Aura's ecstatic voice was cut off by a blast of power from his attacker who fired an attack into the air, it ended the [MESSAGE] attempt.

"Aura?" Ainz yelled out but he was looking up at the sky and didn't see the other slash attack coming.

The power cut through him as the energy followed... it was a stronger version of that attack Ichigo used before. Luckily, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He was thinking still about Aura, he was already under attack by another blast from his attacker... but if he could just tell Aura what was happening...

"Nope sorry... we can't have you talking to her..." Another surging attack came at Ainz who managed to roll out of the way. Ainz realized this brat had just stopped his one chance to tell Aura he was okay... to let her know it would all be okay... that he was coming back. His arms trembled in anger and rage. No more fucking around... Ainz growled inwardly.

"You will regret doing that..." Ainz said standing. His eye flared out as anger flowed over him. An incredibly dark and menacing aura emanated from Ainza as his pure anger and hate manifested itself.

"[NETHER BLADES]". Two long dark purple bade formed from his forearms and hung menacingly past his hands about four feet as he swung his arms out in an intimidating manner... [GREATER TELEPORTATION]. Ainz appeared behind 'Ichigo' and did a double slash at the kid's back.

"AAAARRGGG" He screamed out as the damage carved out sections of his back. 'Ichigo' spun around slashing at Ainz with another huge blast but Ainz was already appearing behind him with another [GREATER TELEPORTATION]. Not being able to use this spell against the real Ichigo on the 8th floor severely handicapped Ainz, but there was not this restriction here.

Ainz ran the blade through his back so he could place his hand on the back of his opponent.

"[TRUE DARK]". A torrent of negative energy enveloped them both... normally the caster would take damage from this attack at this range but his form was healed from it thanks to his racial passive. 'Ichigo' however was not so lucky as he screamed, trying to remove Ainzes blade from his impaled back and chest. The look of panic overwhelmed The pale-skinned swordsman and he frantically claimed at his chest.

"It seems you thought you knew my tricks from when we fought last, unfortunately on that battleground, I was severely hampered, but I say this just so you know why you lost here today... Ainz rose his other blade and cut it down through the air while casting [TRIPLE MAXIMIZE MAGIC REALITY SLASH] the combination attack sundered his attacker in half.

The halved body fell to either side. As the halved body fell the head of 'Ichigo' turned with a wicked smile.

"That's fine... we'll meet again..." He said before both sides of the body vanished with a cackling laugh.

As soon as it did Ainz was standing in his room in the temporary Nazarick. He was human and was wearing his old Devine class gear again. But his Face seemed to covered in a mask. And he felt strong... even stronger than when he leveled up. A rough estimation ... he felt as if every stat had been doubled, breaking past every "100 cap" for every stat... The power seemed to emanate from his mask that would not come off his body no matter how hard he tried to pry it off.

"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! Can you hear me? Is everything alright?" Hidan's panicked voice called out.

"Ainz, are you okay?" Tanya asked worriedly. Ainz ignored their question, still focussing on this overwhelming power he felt. He realized he was under the effect of a huge "buff" from the mask, but it was also draining his giant mana pool at a fast rate.

He placed his hand over it and dispelled the mask. Immediately it vanished and his stats returned to their level 120. In his mind, he felt he had learned a new... and powerful ability.

"With this power alone... my chanced of clearing the 8th floor are... close to 50%!" It won't be long now... and that was Aura or Bella I heard! And they heard me so she will be able to tell the others that I am okay... too bad I couldn't tell her about the 8th floor... but just the thought that his family now knew he was alive calmed his heart... his actual heart as he was still human.

Still ignoring the panicked crying of his subordinates Ainz stared at his human hand in amazement. He undid the [POLYMORPH] spell. As soon as he did he felt that he would not be able to summon the mask in this body.

"So I have to be human, or at least in a 'living' body to use that mask huh? that's unfortunate... I'll lose it and my human body if I take any damage... he was disappointed that there was some balance to this ability after all.

The yells and screamed still continued and so he finally went to open the door. The relived faces of Hidan and Tanya were the first things he saw, they both fired off a million questions at once but Ainz stopped them by raising his hand.

"it's fine, I was just doing some... training that got out of hand, there is no danger. I am fine." Ainz added them. Hidan looked relived and rand to hug Ainz, which he reluctantly allowed him to for only a second or two before gently pushing Hindan off, who gave a pouty face by understood.

"Anyway, I am sorry for the alarm... you may return to your studies," Ainz said with a wave. Both looked at him then at each other as Tanay called off the heightened Alarm and did as asked.

Tanya stopped and turned to Ainz.

"Oh, by the way, that Jiraiya Ninja, that strong one you fought before, wanted to schedule a meeting with you... he hasn't been problematic so far..." Ainz nodded, in truth, he would like to speak to that Ninja as well.

"That's fine, have him meet me in my office in the village... I'll be heading there now." Ainz said. Tanya shook her head.

"I'll have someone relay that message to him... I don't like the way he looks at me... I think he might be a huge pervert." Tanya said as she walked down the stairs.

"A pervert? he seemed noble enough to me..." Ainz thought as he scratched his chin. Tanya shook her head but said nothing more.

Much later... In a secluded prison cell, A very angry blonde hair boy is yelling at the top of his voice.

"HEEEEY! HEY! IS ANYONE THERE?" Naruto screamed as he stood on the edge of his cell. A very annoyed looking guard came around a corner and looked at him.

"What? What do you want?" the guard asked curtly.

"Well for one tell me why am I locked up? The last thing I remember was fighting in the chunin exams and when I wake up i'm here! let me out!" Naruto yelled angrily. The guard shook his head.

"Sorry kid but our new Hokage had ordered you stay in there for now, so just shut up and keep it down!" The ANBU guard said. Naruto blinked.

"Eh? new Hokage? Who is it? What happened to the Old Man?" Naruto asked cautiously. The guard shook his head. Our new Hokage... Ainz Ooal Gown killed him and assumed control of Kohona village. He is out new Hokage because nobody alive possesses the power to go against him... that's all you need to know now shut up or i won't feed you later.

Naruto was about to protest but didn't as they did bring him great food at least... In truth, he was reeling from the news about the death of his "gramps" and was in shock.

"F... Fine..." Naruto muttered and sat back down, in thought and worry. His guard seemed satisfied and returned to his unseen post. Naruto sat in silence until he heard some wooden clanking coming his way. When he looked up there was an old man with long white spikey hair.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked in skepticism.

"Hello, Naruto, my name is Jiraiya, I've been given special permission to train you." The kindly looking man said. Naruto was interested, especially if it meant he could leave this cell!

"Alright old man... what exactly will you be teaching me?' Naruto asked. Jiraiya nodded with a smile.

"I think i can teach you a lot if you really apply yourself to my lessons... I even have a secret technique I might show you." Now Naruto was more than interested.

"What's this technique that's so secret?" naruto asked in some reverence and awe. Jiraiya looked around and whispered.

"Come with me, and agree to be my pupil, and I'll show you..." Jiraiya said with a seriouse expression... whatever technique he intended to impart, must be a serious one.

"F... fine... I'll agree to let you teach me..." Naruto said. The door to his cell popped open and Jiraiya motioned for naruto to follow him.

"Just so you know... there is a very high chance you will die," Jiraiya warned. Naruto gave him a serious look of determination.

"I wouldn't be interested if there wasn't risk involved..." the lad said as he passed Jiraiya. the older ninja smiled at the resolve of the boy... it reminded him of someone.

And so naruto's training began.

After some basic instruction, the cruel tutelage of Jiraiya began...

"THIS IS INSANE! We're gonna die for sure!" Naruto cried. The very first lesson turned out to be potentially fatal after all.

"What's this we stuff? I only have to outrun you, I'll be fine... you and the other hand will be torn to shreds!" Jiraiya snorted as he easily pulled ahead of naruto. From behind them, the screaming enemies could be heard and they were gaining on them.

"Wait... I'll seriously be killed by them!" Naruto screamed as Jiryia began to pull away from him.

"Then consider this your first training lesson!... Survive the horde of female ninja we just peeked on!" Jiryia yelled as blood flowed from his nose and a lecherous smile covered his blushing face.

"WE?" I thought we were sneaking up on an enemy camp, YOU were the one that peeked!" Naruto screamed at the back of the perverted ninja.

"Training Naruto! This is training!" were the last things Naruto heard before he was surrounded by half-naked ninja women.

"Shit! I've been caught!" naruto spun around to the dreaded realization he'd been surrounded.

"I'm going to crack that skull open of yours!" Sakura snarled as she cracked her knuckles in anger.

"I'm going to control your body and make you walk off a cliff!" Ino, Sakura's blonde rival said as she made the hand gesture to take over his mind.

"I'll stab you with every blade I have!" Tenten growled as a huge scroll appeared in her hands.

"I didn't know you were like this Naruto! So I'll have to destroy you as well... I'm sorry!" Hinata said with a blushing face but taking the stance of her gentle fist and activating her Byakugan eye power.

Naruto could feel their combined killing intent, it was like standing between four burning fires.

"Shit... I'm seriously done for!"

The next day Ainz meets with Tanya to fill her in on everything. They were sitting in a private room with a table filled with food and drinks, he was in his human state. He told her about the fight with Ichigo, the level up (he did not say by how much) and finally the fight with "other Ichigo" and increased mask powers when he is human.

"That's incredible Ainz... So, now that your human again, what are you looking forward to doing first?" Tanya asked as she ate some food. Human Ainz gestured to the food before them that they were eating.

"This! Eating and drinking! I've missed this so much... and the food here is very Japanese... it's like a dream... something I've yet to experiment with but sleep too... I wish I had this spell so long ago...

"Hmm? what about sex? You're able to have that again right?" Tanya asked with a grin. Ainz looked at her in shock and surprise, even blushed... he had no emotion regulator in this form so his reactions were real. Tanya burst out laughing.

"Wh.. what? I mean I haven't... wait you're not?" Tanya looked surprised and quickly shook her head.

"No, god of course not... I was just curious if you were going to uh... try out old vices." She said as she took a drink of wine. Ainz sighed and shook his head.

"Sex was never a huge concern for me... I never had time to date," Ainz honestly admitted.

"What about socially? there wasn't anyone you worked with that you liked?" Ainz smiled and leaned back.

"Well... to be honest, there was one girl I always had a crush on. But she was my best friend's sister, it never would have worked out... I don't think." Tanya set down her glass nodding.

"What about you? I have to admit with the mind of a man and female body..." Ainz asked looking curiously at her. She sighed and filled up her glass with more wine.

"You're curious as to what my sexual orientation is? I'm afraid the answer is boring... The fact is even as a grown man... sex, with anyone certainly never appealed to me... I never even had an office crush. I was not an emotional person in that respect... I did not even look at pornography..." She said shaking her head.

"...and as to this body... well I'm only about ten years old, so I've yet to hit puberty. I have about as much sexual interest in anything as I did back then." She finished truthfully.

"Do suspect that will change in a few years?" Ainz asked. Tanya frowned in thought, clearly, she had been thinking

"To be honest, As a man, i used to think women were way too emotionally frantic... especially during their periods, I can't say I'm looking forward to that particular experience... but I doubt I'll ever change who I truly am on the inside."

"But you never answered my question... now that you are able, do you plan to take it up?" Ainz blushed again.

"Theoretically, how would I even go about doing that? There are no women here that wish to sleep with me..." Ainz said shrugging. Tanya grinned smugly.

"I dunno... Hidan seemed pretty into you... bet you two could..."

"I am not gay!" Ainz announced, interrupting her joke. Tanya snorted in laughter, her obvious tease had worked.

"I'm sure this town has its "working girls" just like any other city in the world." She suggested.

"Well... I never uh... that is..." He stammered as Tanya slammed her glass down.

"Virgin? You were... you ARE a virgin? That's..." she was beginning to crack up in laughter.

"Well, you just said you..." he barked back defensively.

"Even I've given the 'red-light' district a walk when... VERY drunk... didn't care for it so never went back, but you're just a straight-up virgin still?" he laughter broke and she pounded her one free hand on the table.

"That was your old body! In that body, you're still as much a virgin as I am!" Ainz said, pointing at her accusingly with a half-smile. Tanya's face turned red and she stopped laughing.

Ainz was snickering and trying to hold back a laugh but failed. He burst out laughing... and it wasn't suppressed. Ainz enjoyed his first real good laugh in quite a while. Tanya just looking at him half pouting and half-embarrassed look as they finished their meal.

"So... anyway... what do you really plan on doing? You can probably learn ninjutsu as a human too now right?" Ainz, who was recovering from his laugh still nodded.

"Yes, and Danzo has agreed to teach me using the scroll when you are not using it. If we can both master the high-level abilities in that scroll... the success rate of getting out of here gets very high... Tanya nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, no kidding. but The ability to reais the dead an control them is incomplete... I think we'd have to get Orochimaru's "help" on that one." Tanya admitted.

"No matter how much I learn other arts, that one seems impossible."

"By the way, what have you learned? I'm curious to the exact nature of skills you've picked up." Ainz said crossing his fingers and looking out the window that their table sat next to. Tanya thought for a bit.

"Well just recently I learned Lightning butterfly dance, it covers the area I'm in with lightning strikes... It seems my chakra alignment favors lightning-based attacks as they seem to be the easiest to learn for me. As such, the week before that Kakashi taught me a pretty good melee attack he called Lightning Blade... I'm still getting the hang of that one, however."

"those are both advance techniques, right? What about the basic ones?" Tanya nodded.

"I can do that substitution Jutsu we encountered. And I can make some shadow clones... but that's about it so far..." Ainz clapped.

"No that's incredible, you've done in weeks what takes most years and years." Ainz praised her honestly.

"Well, the scrolls you provided me with certainly helped. But we'll see what a few more weeks of training yield. Speaking of which, i should go do some more of it... training" She said as she got up from the table. Ainz smiled and waved bye.

He thought about what she said, however. Taking a wife might be a real possibility now, once he got back to his world.

Back to Nazarick.

AU note= These are Ainzes official stats when he is wearing the Hollow Mask.

(The Mask will be undone however if any damage is taken as [POLYMORPH] ends after damage and Ainz must be living to use the mask. it has a 24-hour cooldown.)

Health Points= 80 ^ 200

Mana= Near Infinite

Physical Attack= 40 ^ 130

Physical Defence= 75 ^ 160

Agility= 45 ^ 95

Magic Attack= 100 ^ 200

Magic Defence= 100 ^ 200

Resistance= 100 ^ 140

Special= 100 ^ 300

Ainz will also be able to use the Black katana Ichigo used called Zangetsu (Ichigo's Zanpakuto in it's Bankai form) when using the mask. As such, when masked Ainz gains max levels in the Swordsman job class, as well as max levels in class he does not recognize.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Huh... what?" The world around her was blurry. She looked and rubbed her eyes as the world came into frame. It was so bright... The girl covered her eyes squinting at the blazing hot sun. She stood and surveyed her surroundings.

"Nothing but sand..." she muttered in despair. She immediately realized she was in the middle of a huge dessert.

"My God... my Lord? why have you called me here?" She asked as she fell to her knees, hoping her Lord would hear her pitiful cry. But she had been dropped into the center of a large sand desert. She looked around and got to her feet.

"Why... why am I here... and where am I anyway?" She pushed her brown hair from her face, her two braids on either side of her head waving in the hot air. She had her rifle nad sidearm... but no water, this dessert... however she got here, looked to be a death sentence. With nothing else to do she stands, takes her jacket off and makes a kind of turban hat with it to help keep the glaring sun out of her eyes. She only has a white tank top and brown pants on as she begins her treck.

Hours pass... the young girl still walks with the beating sun grilling her shoulders. her green eyes are red from dehydration... her mouth is dry, she knows this is a bad sign.

"I'm almost completely dehydrated..." she mutters as her legs refuse to carry on. She falls face first, the hot sand slightly burning her cheek. The image of her father smiling at her is the last thing she remembers before losing consciousness. The young girl of about 10 or 11 years old is laying face first, waiting to die from overexposure. As her vision and consciousness fade out she's suddenly aware she is standing in the shadow of someone.

"Who..." She eeks out. She looks up at the person standing over her, he's bals, wearing a mask and has a weird black robe over his body.

"Hmm? Just who are you, little girl?" The man asks as a large metal like tail dangles over her menacingly. The question was rhetorical as she did not look like she would be alive too much longer. Sasori looked at her.

"My name... is Mary... Sue." She mutters before losing consciousness. Sasori, a member of Akatsuki looks over her and sighs heavily.

"Saving you will make me late... I _really_ hate to be late... sorry..." The hunched over ninja said before walking away from her.

"Eh?" There came a slight tugging on his robe, he thought maybe he had gotten it caught on something but when he looked back he was shocked to see the brown-haired girl grabbing onto his robe, yet she was still unconscious. His eyes widened in realization.

"Your will to live is that strong? Or is it your thirst for vengeance that keeps you going?" Sasori thought for a few seconds.

"Kill her... Kill... the..." She muttered in her muddled state. Sasori knew he should just let this girl cook in the hot sun... saving her probably would not do anything for him or his mission. But the way she looked intrigued him. She had not ninja headband to speak of yet she was clearly a soldier, even id had no idea what the long weapon on her back did, he knew it was dangerous. Not understanding why he knelt down and began rummaging through her pockets and belongings.

She had no ninja weapons on her to speak of. A pendant she has around her neck only shows a smiling man with a scar on his face, his clothes matching hers. Something made Saori think she could be special... maybe worth saving after all.

"Okay, Mary Sue... today is your lucky day..." His long tail, that was about to end her life, instead, wrapped around her and took her under his cloak.

"I don't have any water on me I'm afraid... so if you really want live then stay alive... if not, I'll just make another puppet from your cute corpse," Saori said to the half-dead girl.

"Hmm?" Mary Sue opened her eyes. There was no longer the beating un on her body... she was in someplace cool and dark. Her lips were cracked and her face hurt... she was suffering from overexposure to the sun.

"Where... am..." she muttered. A blonde man was standing over her, he had a long ponytail and his hair bangs covered half of his face, like the hunched over man, he wore a black robe with red clouds on it.

You're in a cave we're using as base... but you better talk fast, about who you are before I make my little found here go 'boom!... HMM?" He was looking at her intently. Mary realized there was a white blob on her chest with eyes... it had weird feet.

"What is..."

"You better not scream... HMM?" She shook her head, she had no idea what was going on.

"I... I do not know where I am... what country am I in?" The blonde man looked annoyed...

"Hey! I'm the one asking questions here, you got that... HMM?" He glared angrily at her sunburn face.

"Oh, then I'm a prisoner..." Her heart sank when she realized she'd be captured, not rescued.

"That's right, so you would do well to answer my questions... right?" The blonde mas asked, somehow though, she felt like there was no real hostility in his threats.

"I honestly have no idea where I am... the last thing I remember was recovering in a hospital... now I'm here, unhurt and with all my weapons... you can torture me all you want... that is all I know!"

"A hospital? What Village"

"M-My name is Mary Sue... I'm a second lieutenant in the Unified States Military... my military identification number 1124323ab..."

"Stop! I don't know what any of that means! Just what _village_ are you from, what Nation?" the blonde ninja asked growing increasingly annoyed. Mary looked at him and shook her head.

"I'm from a city, not a village..."

"A...city? Then... you are not a shinobi at all, are you...HMM?" His words made no sense but she was sure she was not a shinobi.

"I-I'm just a soldier... nothing more..." She said in sadness, not giving your captors the information they wanted usually resulted in torture. the blonde ninja thought for a while and made some more small weird white animals and placed them next to her.

"Well, I think you are telling the truth... best you can, but we still need to find out, don't we?" She grinned a bit as he placed some of the white clay figurines.

"W... what will those cute things to?" She asked scared. He stopped and looked at her.

"Cute? D-did you just call... my art _cute_... HMM?" he leaned in close to her.

"Uh... y...yes?" She trembled. His one eye that was visible squinted at her.

"Because... That's exactly what I was going for!...HMM! You could see it couldn't you?" he asked, he was uncomfortably close to her.

"I... I mean, I've just never seen art move like that is all... and their black eyes are adorable... um, sorry if..."

"HA! You really get it... oh but this is NOTHING! the very best part is yet to come!... HMM!" He smiled widely.

"I'll show you the best part of my art... then we'll see if what you said was true..."

Back in Nazarick Ainz stands with Tanya and Danzo.

"The army is coming through this pass here... if you wished to bottleneck the majority of their army then here would be..." Danzo was suggesting, pointing at a large map. Ainz shook his head (in his original form).

"There should be no need for that. Let them march to our gates as planned." Danzo nodded slightly with a smile.

"Why not allow me to take them out?" Tanya asked. Ainz looked at her.

"A whole army this big? I know you have infinite mana but..."

"I've figured out how to combine shadow clones with my magic... I can become my own mage unit now," Tanya announced with some amount of her pride in her voice. Ainz thought for a moment.

"While that is very impressive, I'd like to keep that kind of firepower hidden, my strength is well documented by now, I'd liek to add to that,"

"You want to keep me off their radar?" Ainz nodded.

"You are much more susceptible to an assassination attempt than I am," Ainz explained. Tanya frowned but understood his point, especially in this world of ninja.

"Well, if that is your wish, they will be here in a matter of two days, we've been able to eliminate their forward spies so their army is marching blind," Danzo smiled.

"What will we do after this battle? Their city will be largely unguarded. We could probably just walk in there and..." Tanya was saying but was cut off by Ainz.

"We don't need to crush their homes... The one tail is the only thing they had that I would want, and i have it already. After I slaughter their city I'm sure another enemy nation will take that opportunity, a city surrounded by sand isn't something that interests me."

"True, your hostile takeover of The Leaf village has put the world on edge... our allies wish to remain so but they are taking defensive measures,"

"Well, that is to be expected..."

"In particular, the Lightning Country seems very interested in you... the hidden rebels in the leaf seems to be trying to contact them, so we can assume they will not remain friendly for too much longer."

"Is this a problem?"

"In honestly? yes... The leader of The lightning nation is as strong as they come, I can't think of many ninja that could hope to beat him in a straight-up fight... and his brother is the Jinkuri for the Eight tails, who is also rated as close to his power, with the power fo the eight tails, they might be equal... beating just them will be hard and their elite ninja units can also rival ours..."

"Can we beat them?" Ainz asked but Tanya spoke up.

"It doesn't matter..." Both men looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"The Lightning Nation is a powerhouse, the only nation that could really challenge our might in a war, after this duct up with the sand... but even after we beat the lightning nation The Earth Country would be in a fantastic position to attack us from the rear as soon as we begin hostilities with the lighting, this puts us on a two-front war... i don't think I need to tell you how hard that is..."

"... Tanya is right, and while the Water Country may stay out of the war officially, they will lend help to the Lightning in secret at the very least," Danzo mentioned.

"Our location is our biggest weakness huh?" Ainz noted looking at how they sat as the gatekeeper of the other lands.

"Indeed, this was a problem during ever Great Ninja War... It's only been the raw power of The Leaf that kept them alive and on the top," Ainz stroked his chin. A much slower and methodical approach would be best but that simply would not be an option at this point, things had to progress fast.

"And the other Tailed Beasts? Do we know their locations?" Ainz asked Danzo frowned

"The information we've got on them is sparse, unfortunately... the Two Tails is a vagabond... and labeled as very dangerous. The three tails is deep within the Hidden Village of the Mist, reaching him would be probabilistic. The four tails is also unknown as he lives apart from the rest of the world, basically a hermit. The five would probably be a good target as he is a renowned fighter for The Earth nation. When we begin hostilities with them, he will surely be on the front lines as he is also their strongest fighter, as far as we know. We also have no idea where The Six Tails is... there are reports he may even be dead, but these are unconfirmed. The seven is also unknown to us, as we don't even know where their village is located... if they do not reveal themselves by choice..." Danzo finally finished his report of the tailed beasts.

"So, they are either enemy elites or simply in hiding... that is a problem, well I thank you for what you able to find out Danzo," Ainz said with a bow, Danzo smiled.

"Well, If I may suggest, whoever is controlling the Akatsuki has clearly made it their goal of collecting The tailed beats... we could employ our own 'secret' force to scour the land and obtain them... under _any_ means..." Danzo suggested. Ainz thought for a while.

"Why not allow them to keep moving... we'll cease our collection of the remaining Akatsuki members in hopes that they collect tailed beats for us... it will be only a matter of time till they come for Gaara and Naruto," As Ainz was saying this he caught a wicked smile on Tanya's face.

"That's not a bad idea Ainz... this will also help us flush out who is behind them," Tanya mentioned as she bit her thumbnail in thought.

"But it wouldn't hurt to have our own men out there as well looking for them, I'll let you assemble that team, but choose only the best and most Loyal," Ainz ordered Danzo who immediately began thinking of names he could send out.

"Well, if there is nothing else...? then this concludes today's briefing." Danzo bowed and excused himself to assemble their own tailed beast hunting force.

"What will you be doing in the meantime?" Ainz directed the question at Tanya. She shrugged as she walked away.

"What I've been doing, learning more ninjutsu, I'll be in the forest of death practicing," Tanya waved bye as she left. As soon as she was gone Ainz collapsed in his chair. He was mentally exhausted...

"I became too reliant on Demiurge and Albedo... not having their help is the worse!" Ainz whined in frustration, on top of that he simply missed them. the way Demiurge would adjust his glasses, how Albedo would gaze at him lovingly, how Shalltear would argue with Albedo, how Cocytus would ty to remain professional no matter what, and of course the triplets Aura, Mare, and Bella... the way their beaming eyes would look up to him... he even missed the little girl who helped him get here...

But before he before too forlorn his emotions were stabilized and he was no longer sad but he still missed his friends. He chuckled thinking what Demiurge would think of this plan to forge through the 8th floor to get home.

"Soloing is rough, huh?" Ainz sighed aloud and fell back again.

Two days pass and Ainz stands to greet the invading nation. They stand thousands-strong in confidence. They stood ready for open war. Ainz had seen this before. The image of The Royal Army of The Re-Estize army on the Katze Plain came to his mind. They were not charging, they were waiting for The Leaf Army to show as they drew their lines quite far from the giant red wall that protected the City.

But only Ainz showed himself. He could see the soldiers leaning in to whisper something to there neighbor. He had given a lot of thought as to how to eliminate this army. But he had discovered another trait he possessed that he did not before. It was time to use another new passive skill he took. [FREE CAST] a spell buff that could only be used once a week. But you could use it to cast any spell, even one that relied on experience instead of mana for free, as such he had a particular summon he'd be dying to try out, but as it used to drain experience, he never could use since this body becoming real.

Ainz rose his hands and cast the spell with little most hesitation. An immediate reaction washed over the army.

"Come... Grim Reaper Thanatos!" Ainz finished his summons. Even as it was daylight... the sky turned black as night but the light did not vanish from the world. (this was a balance the devs added to alert players that it had been summoned). When the sky returned... before Ainz stood a terrifying monster. While only level 90, it had some special effects that made it far more powerful than a mere level 90 summons.

The creature stood 12 feet tall but was still hunched over in front of Ainz. Four arms, each arms holding a differnt colored lamp of red, white, green, purple. The body was thin and covered by rotting black and grey robes. It hung its long head down, staring at the ground, it's long white hair draping before its face so that only four glowing eyes could be seen, the same colors as the lamps it held.

"201,4637..." Grim Reaper Thanatos chuckled as it could feel the living soul every human that Ainz considered an enemy.

"Please keep them here? these ninja have annoying ways of escaping." Ainz said. Grim Reaper Thanatos nodded and the white lamp flashed. The flash was very, very bright. Bright enough so that the entire army could see it, even in midday. The white light in it's lamp went dim.

"Any kind of teleportation or warping abilities or spells are now sealed." His summon said as it stood up to an impressive 15 feet. Some worried gasps came from the front of the army as the ones who could see what was happening tried to explain what they were seeing to the ones in the back. But this was shortlived as an attack horn was heard, ordering the ninja army to begin it's assault.

At once a mighty war cry came from the scared humans as they charged. They were confident that they no army because of ther swift march to the leaf village. While they knew what stood before them was on par with (as they think) any elite ninja, they figured this evil ruler would be beaten under their sheer force of numbers.

"Left division, attack the Leaf Hokage, Right Division, center firepower on that thing he summoned, everyone else storm the walls and attack the city!" A Sand General Shinobi welled out, using chakra to bolster his voice.

"They do not seem to be fleeing, my Lord..." Grim Reaper Thanatos said with a happy tone. Ainz nodded that this was what he expected.

"How should I kill them, My Lord?" It asked as it looked up at it's three remaining lit lamps. Ainz thought for a while as they ran at him.

"We'll not use your best skill... so let's just introduce these humans to the realm of madness." Ainz shrugged as if to say "this might be cool". The red lamp flared up again, all could see it once more and just like that every member of the attacking wave stopped to receive a new order. 1/3 of the charging enemy army stood still.

"They await your order My Lord..." Ainz was pleased to see how well his summons abilities were performing. Ainz only needed the front ranks to hear his order.

"Kill the person standing to your left," Ainz said with a smile. The spell that Grim Reaper Thanatos had cast was a mixture of [INSANITY] and [CHARM]. And NPC (in-game) that was afflicted would obey one order from the controller of Grim Reaper Thanatos (or him itself). After which they would become insane, unable to be cured under normal methods. He was pleased to see it now working on anything that was low level enough.

At his order chaos ensued. Each ninja turned to attack the one on the left of it, ignoring the attacks coming from it's right side by another ninja attacking the left. The slaughter happened quickly as none tried to defend against the attack. They pulled out their weapons and simply began hacking the people to their left before they would be cut down. The eyes screamed of madness as friend and brother attacked one another. Grim Reaper Thanatos chuckled menacingly as he and Ainz watched the slaughter unfold.

Any Ninja that resisted the effects of Ainzes order (if there were any) still found themselves in a struggle of life and death.

This, however, was just the fate of the right side. The left had been too far back to effected as they were attempting a flanking maneuver. Ainz waited for them to come a little closer.

"Alright, let's use your green lamp..." Ainz was about to say when he was surrounded by white figures. They each wore a white mask and donned long white robes. there were ten of them and he was surrounded.

"What? How... I don't sense any life from these attackers!" Ainz realized as they dove him, each pushing a blade into his skeleton body. Grim Reaper Thanatos did not move to incept the robed attacked, he just looked at Ainz and waited for his next order.

"How annoying... [AURA OF DESPAIR V]" Ainz let out his instant death spell but the attacking masked fighters were not affected.

"Guh." Ainz raised his arms to incept the next flurry of annoying sword slashes. The surprise unit was not doing much damage with their attacks but they were keeping him from dealing with the army. Ainz snapped his fingers, [FIREBALL]. he targetted himself but the explosion turned his attacks into a burning pile of wood.

"Puppets huh? That explains a lot..." he was an old lady with a shocked look on her face and outstretched hands and fingers with a string attached to them.

"It would have been nice to give to Gaara's brother... oh well... [GRASP HEART]." He held his hand out and crushed the elite ninja's heart with his spell. She grabbed her chest and fell over, dead.

The remains of the army were coming closer, some desperate ninja were already trying to throw their weapons at him.

"Grim Reaper Thanatos... light them up!" Ainz pointed at the first of the two waves. Grim Reaper Thanatos bowed and his green lantern blazed brightly. The ground turned black soon after. The ground gave way to thousands of arms. They were skeletal but strong as anything. A pair of arms would emerge for each enemy that was in the area affected by the lantern. Many ninja tried to use escape Jutsu, but they were all still locked by the first white lights power. As such, many died in vain making hand gestures that would do nothing.

The chorus of screams alerted the last wave of ninja invaders to the immense danger and a sudden retreat order was given. there was only about a third left of the attacking force. Grim Reaper Thanatos looked up at Ainz rubbing his gnarled hands together.

The captured ninja force was now getting broken and torn top pieces by the mass of undead arms. Very few ninjas managed to escape with just hunks of flesh gouged out ot if they cut off their own arm to get away. But they were heavily wounded but managed to join up with the retreating mass all the same. Ainz had expected many more 'elite' class shinobi to emerge, but they either lacked them or did not send them other than the old lady.

"Shall I uh... 'light them up' once more, my Lord?" Grim Reaper Thanatos asked. One of the bad things about Grim Reaper Thanatos is that while sentients... would never make a move unless asked or ordered to, even if it was an obvious one. Ainz thought for a second but shook his head.

"No, I think I will enjoy myself a bit..." he stepped forth casting [POLYMORPH HUMAN]. As soon as he became human he put his hand over his face and summoned the Hollow maks. The skull mask formed onto his face as he felt a rush of power from his stats getting boosted. Still wearing his Devine Gear, the surge of power and strength was amazing. The only change was he had to hold the red orb that floated in his empty midsection like a ball in one hand now.

"Go seek out Tanya, explain to her what you are capable of and protect her at all times," Ainz ordered. Grim Reaper Thanatos cast [GREATER TELEPORTATION] and vanished.

"Okay... let's try this out..." Ainz pointed his hand at the fleeing ninja. Oddly, even as a human he still felt nothing about killing them... apparently just his body, not mind, were changed. A mass of dark energy began to built and grow like a black and red orb at the tip of his finger. Dark energy crackled around him as well, this was not liek casting a spell as he could feel the actual power welling up in his control.

"Cero..." Ainz released the blast and a beam negative power shot forth. By instinct, he had been aiming it where it would do the most damage but he quickly regretted this decision as the beam exploded after vaporizing everything before him. The explosion ripped the fleeing ene, my force to nothing but burning meat and cloth. The shockwave caused the wall he stood in front of to rattle violently. The attack has been lightyears stronger than when Ichigo had used it...

"What... are there really none left?" He asked once the scenery of smoke finally began to dissipate. He had wanted to try out his new sword as well... But it seemed his Cero had been too effective... in truth, he should have just used this one attack... but he did not expect it to have a secondary explosion after the beam blast. And he wanted a Grim Reaper Thanatos to protect Tanya anyway so it was fine... his point would be made to this world just the same.

From within the tall walls of The Leaf village, all it's residence look on is disbelief. The kind of power they had witnessed reminded them why rebelling against him was a fool errand looking to die. Naruto looked at the burning mass of bodied next to his trainer Jiraiya.

"Pervy Sage... you said you fought him before?" Naruto asked swallowing the fear in his throat. Jiraya stood in silence, he understood what he had just seen... Ainz was more than just a powerful being... he was the strongest thing in the world currently.

"Fought? I thought so... but I think it might have been little more than a man playing with a kitten at the end of string... it might seem like a fight to the kitten only..." Naruto looked at him with shock.

"A... are you saying you're like a kitten compared to him? that can't be right!" Naruto gasped and looked back at the devastation and frowned at the man in a skull mask... who actually had a skull face.

"Don't ever fight him Naruto... no matter what..."


	15. Chapter 15

**AU= I was informed that my numbers of possible sand village troops was grossly overcounted, as such the army that attack Ainz would have been closer to 20,000... not 200,000... so um, thanks to xtribex for pointing that out. Those will be the numbers that "canonically happen" Also I know the wait for this chapter has been a long one, sorry, and thanks for continuing to read. I will try to get back to once a week again.)**

CHAPTER FIFTEEN= Taking Sides (Enemies gather-A fight approaches)

Things were quiet. Tanya didn't like it. Normally not fighting was her prime motivation... but it bothered her that they didn't know who their enemies even were, not really. She was sitting in the war room with Ainz and Danzo, along with Hidan, who would usually be around Ainz if possible, proclaiming himself "Lord Ainz Ooal Gown's personal Bodyguard" Having a bodyguard who was immune to death certainly could come in handy, so nobody really protested it...

"So about adding your image to the mountain of Hokage..." Danzo had been bugging AInz about this over the past two weeks. He insisted it was the tradition of the village but Ainz protested that he was not into grandiose self-imagery.

"I really don't like it..." Ainz once again said. They looked to Tanya, she was suddenly aware they were looking for her input.

"Well... I think it is meant to show respect for the current Hokage... but you did not earn your position through respect, you did it using fear and overwhelming power to instill that fear... so I think it would not be a good idea." She shrugged giving her honest opinion. Ainz clapped once in total agreement.

"There, Tanya has said it perfectly! So sorry Danzo, we will not be adding my face to the mountain. Danzo and Hidan both frowned but Danzo said nothing more on the matter.

"Okay, well... in that case, I think we should figure out what to do about the current situation up north..." Danzo mentioned in a knowing tone.

"You're talking about the clash between the sound village, Orochimaru's village... and Itachi Uchiha?" Ainz asked. Danzo nodded.

"It would be prudent to choose a side Lord Ainz," Ainz thought for a second.

"Would it? Seems there isn't a reason to intervein," Ainz said shrugging as well.

"Let them take each other out? Does that really align with our goals?" Tanya asked. Again all eyes turned to stare at her. She frowned but met Ainzes gaze head-on. Ainz considered her point and nodded.

"You're right... okay then, which side yields us the most benefit?" Ainz asked opening up the room to opinions. Hidan was the first to speak up.

"Itachi was always a weird guy... I'd rather help Orochimaru. even if he was also a weirdo," Hidan said folding his arms. Tanya though.

"Well, we've had past dealing with Orochimaru before... as he got what he wanted, for the most part... he may willing to team again, but there is always the fact that we could, and never will... be able to trust him. Itachi's motivation seems to be Sasuke if we guarantee his safety... Itachi will follow us I believe. Having said that, I think Orochimaru is our best bet... as he could teach us the forbidden techniques he's mastered, whereas Itachi cannot, his skills are all blood-related... so my vote is also Orochimaru.

"I would like to have Itachi and Sasuke... but that is just my own selfish desire... in reality, Orochimaru would indeed be the best side to help." Danzo agreed. the vote seemed unanimous.

"Do does he even need our help? What is the exact situation on that front?" Hidan asked.

"It would seem Oricimaru has a lot of... things to throw at Itachi to keep him busy as he is just a one man assault... If things continue as is Itachi will probably win over time, having said that... Orochimaru has yet to throw any elites at him." Danzo explained.

"That bone ninja..." Tanya hissed as she rubbed where his attacks had hit her in their last fight," Ainz looked at her for a moment then shook his head.

"Well... no time like the present..." Ainz cast [MESSAGE] directed toward Orochimaru

"Yes... among others. So, if we were attack Itachi when he had Oricimaru in a more difficult position..." Danzo began. While still attentive Tanya could tell Ainz had something else on the back of his mind.

"Orochimaru?" Ainz asked in his mind.

"Ah, Ainz Ooal Gown, my old business partner... how have these past few months been treating you?" The voice said back, not at all worried that Ainz was somehow able to directly communicate to him like this.

"Very well actually, and how are things for you?"

"As well as could be expected, I must say, however, I am not too thrilled that you killed my squads... I invested many hours into them."

"Well, perhaps I could make amends for that... how is your... Itachi problem going?" At this mention Orochimaru's voice became annoyed.

"He's costing me valuable assets and resources... I'd rather not fight him myself, but I can't imagine anyone I control beating him without my help,"

"Then maybe we can... renew our old partnership..."

"Go on..."

"I'll attack Itachi from the rear, I've met him in battle and seem to be immune to his eyes... his 'Sharingan'..."

"Well... that would be helpful, but... I have reasons for not wanting Itachi dead... if you can guarantee me his capture and delivery then you can... consider the Hidden Village of the sound allied to your leaf Village," he said with no hesitation.

That seriously bothered Ainz, he wondered just what Oricimaru had to gain from gaining the brother of the one he already had. He agreed so fast that it just seemed unnatural.

"Alright, that should prove easy enough," Ainz said truthfully. And the spell was over.

"He's agreed to ally with us if we can deliver him the living body of Itachi," Ainz told the patiently waiting faces. Hidan and Tanya smiled, Danzo did as well but only after clicking his tongue.

Ainz was thinking for a bit. Tanya looked at him, she was interested in what he had in the back of his mind, but he probably couldn't say in front of Danzo and Hidan.

"So, how will we be approaching this?" Danzo asked.

"This is something I should do... Itachi is at least equally matched if not stronger than anyone else here or otherwise. Nobody disagreed with him.

"B-but you won't be going out alone?" Hidan asked with wide-eyed concern.

"I haven't used my free weekly summon this week yet, so I can make someone who can help, I'd rather leave Grim Reaper Thanatos here to help guard Nazarick and Tanya."

"Will you be summoning another of them?" Hidan asked, looking slightly flushed.

"Uh, no... I'll use someone who specializes in Pv... One on one battles," Ainz explained.

"Even still, we should prepare an escort..."

"Very well, I would like to see what else this Itachi has up his sleeve first... I'd like all to leave other than Tanya," Ainz then said. Danzo and Hidan immediately bowed and left the war room.

"What's up?" Tanya asked as soon as they left, her suspicions that he needed to tell her something were true.

"I was thinking... I am... much stronger than I thought when I don that mask..." Tanya waited to see what he would say, but she had a suspicion.

"... I think I might be ready to try assaulting the 8th floor soon," Ainz said looking at his skeletal hands.

"Yeah after seeing what you did... and now CAN do... I'm not surprised, but there is more isn't there?" Tanya asked without smiling.

"Yes... in fact Tanya, even if we clear the floor, and I am able to get home and ammas all the power and resources I would have at my disposal... the fact remains, I summoned you on a fluke and would have no idea on how to return you back home..." Ainz admitted. Tanya nodded.

"I figured as much... but that world wasn't "my world" it's just where that bastard Being X sent me... my world is japan... earth... another place you cannot send me, right?"

"Correct... yet my previous offer of allowing you to live a life of luxury in Nazarick still stands..." Tanaya nodded.

"In truth, that's all I've ever strived for... but i do not think being X will allow that... he wants to see me suffer..." Ainz looked at her with a serious expression.

"Wait... then you think he would interfere in our mission to get home?" Tanya shrugged.

"I have no idea what he can or will do... I just know he likes to show up when things are going good for me to kick me back down a few pegs... so yes, I would count on his meddling... as to how far he goes..." Ainz nodded gravely. He suddenly realized he might have to come to blows with a literal god if he kept helping Tanya. But her unlimited mana would play a big role in the attack on the eighth floor.

"Well, as I told you before... I have a plan on dealing with him if he shows up... whether or not that plan works..." Ainz said sjaking his head.

"Well my plan was always to just shoot him next time he did... so I'm guessing yours is still better than that?" Ainz nodded, maybe even smiling.

Meantime, miles away in the Sand nations territory two cloaked figures with red clouds on them fly on a giant clay bird with a brown-haired girl behind them. Her greenish-blue eyes looked out in wonder over the vast desert they were flying over. they were Sasori, Deidra and Mary Sue.

"Why did he agree to let her join us? She seems unnecessary... hmm?" Deidra asked looking at the wide-eyed girl. Sasori, looking like a hunched over turtle but with a menacing metal tail behind him only shook his masked head.

"It's hard for me to explain, there is something off about this girl... notice how she seems to have no idea what even a shinobi, or ninja, even is? No matter where she is from, she should at least know THAT much."

"Yeah, and what's with the symbol on her arm? Red and blue striped with blue and a white star? What kind of symbol is that...HMM?" Diedra asked.

"Probably what she said... the mark of her country this... Unified States of America?... She said it's a world power, but I've never heard of it either..." Sasori looked out ahead, they were coming up on the sand village capital but there seemed to be no traffic..."

"I heard they rallied everyone they had to attack the Leaf recently... but they should be back by now... the survivors I mean," Sasori flew closer but there were an amazingly few posted guards. Deidra looked confused as well.

"What's the deal? Where is everyone...HMM? All I can make are kids and elderly... a few shops..." The fact they were simply allowed to fly over a capital city like this was amazing, and it could mean one thing...

"No survivors? Sasori asked alnmost amazed at the words he said.

"No? But I heard they marched nearly 20,000 troops there? And for not a single one to return..." Sasori sounded a little more than concerned.

"This new Hokage of The Leaf... this Ainz Ooal Gown... what kind of army did he raise...HMM?" Deidra asked mouth open once they realized that... in the world of the shinobi, which specialized in escape tactics and skills, for there to be that large of slaughter for the attacking side... was, odd.

"It was probably the two Tailed beasts he has in his control... that's the only way i can think this happened," Sasori said nodding... that could account for this, maybe? Deidra looked annoyed.

"Alright, well there is no tailed Beast here for us to pick up... and no army even to stop us from... what's our mission now...HMM?" Sasori thought for a moment.

"We'll inform everyone that still hasn't betrayed the organization of been captured of this development,"

"What about The Leaf? Seems they are a bigger problem than we thought they were going to be...HMM!" They both realized they had been speaking candidly in front of Mary Sue, who largely was still looking around in amazement at the weird buildings made of mostly sand and not paying attention to their conversation. They looked at each other and shrugged. As the clay bird, they flew on flew away from the Desert capital.

"So... where to now...HMM?"

"I think we should have Pain pay the leaf a visit... but he shouldn't go alone..."

"Pain is never alone... but, what are you saying exactly?"

"We should probably all team up and hit the leaf while there's some of us still standing..."

"That's what he said, isn't it... HMM?"

"Your fault for not attending the meeting..."

"I had to watch Marry... you should have just let me blow her up like I wanted...HMM!"

"... Like I keep telling you... there is something about this girl... I have a feeling she is our key to victory somehow. Both Shinobi looked at her. She suddenly was aware and turns to smile and wave.

Back in the Hidden leaf village Jiraiya and Naruto are taking a break on a hill overlooking the Forest of Deaths entrance. Naruto seemed annoyed or frustrated. the area they were surrounded in looked untouched, like no real training had been taking place, however...

"Don't feel bad about it Naruto... not many can make Rasengan their first try..." Jiraiya tried to comfort the boy who had failed.

"But... we've been training for weeks, not Pervy Sage... I bet everyone you've taught could have done it by now... right?" Jiraiya scratched the back of his head with a big fake smile.

"Y-yeah... by sheer coincidence you should have made one by now..." Naruto frowned. He had been getting stronger. Jiraiya could see a drastic improvement in naruto daily... he had applied himself to training like nobody Jiraiya had seen, and while his overall power and abilities grew, his chakrak control was still that of a beginner. Jiraiya found that odd as he had heard naruto had summoned the Tailed beast's chakra during his fight with Tanya. So why did he have less control of even his own chakra now?

"Naruto... let me see something..." Jiraiya thought about something. Naruto looked at him suspiciously.

"Naruto stand up and take off your clothes..." Jiraiya said plainly. Naruto blinked and looked at him in confusion.

"W...what?" Naruto asked scooting away a bit from Jiraiya.

"You heard me... take your clothes off, I wanna look at it again!" Now Naruto scooted away...

"L-look at, it? A-again?" Naruto now jumped back from Jiraiya. Jiraiya jumped up and ran at Naruto with outstretched hands.

"N-NO! G-GET AWAY!"

"NARUTO! LET ME SEE IT!" Jiraiya dashed at Naruto with speed he could never hope to match and before he knew it Jiraiya was holding a mostly naked Naruto by his ankle, Naruto was screaming in distress. Jiraiya looked at Naruto's stomach, there was still nothing there, but by the way Naruto was acting, it was as if there was another seal... yet none could be seen.

"Unless..." Jiraiya said as he pulled off Naruto's boxers.

"WWWHHAAAAA! PERVY SAGE IS MOLESTING MEEEEE!" Naruto screamed out, but their training ground was secluded and nobody could hear Naruto's pleas for help.

"Ah-ha!" Jiraiya let out a cry of victory! On Naruto's right butt cheek was an unmistakable seal sigh. Naruto spun around, covering his shame with both his hands.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Naruto screamed as he tried to kick Jiraiya away, his face burning bright red.

"This is seal naruto... one that I recognize." Jiraiya saif pointing out the weird symbol on his ass.

"What? How long has that been there?"

"Probably since you ran into "that weird snake guy" during the trials in The Forest of Death... the question is... why were able to break it in that fight with the girl? What happened at that time that you can't do it now?" Naruto was calming down a bit even if Jiraiya still had him suspended in mid-air.

"S-so... fine, set me down now?" Jiraiya let go of Naruto who landed on his feet scowling.

"Alright... this is good," Jiraiya said with a nod and smile.

"I don't see how you stripping me and holding me like that is a good thing!" Naruto yelled putting his clothes back on.

"This means if I can break that seal, which looks like it's been broken once already... so is a bit weaker than normal... then you will have full chakra control... yours and the Nine-Tails." Naruto's expression turned serious. He rubbed his butt where the seal symbol was.

"Alright then fine... How long will this take?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya thought as he rummaged through his things, finally finding a scroll.

"This should take no time at all."

**AN= this section will be about the overarching story of Side Adventures, if you have not read the previous volumes of Side Adventures you will be confused for this section only. If you are only going to read this volume then you can skip as this will matter to Volume 5. Thank You -DDDGGG.**

INTERMISSION

"I heard him... I heard Lord Ainz!" Aura screamed over and over as she ran intot he throne room. Albedo, Demiurge, Cocytus, and Pandora's Actorall turned to look at her as she burst into the room. They all looked at her in shock. ALbedo was the first to speak up.

"What do you mean you heard Lord Ainz? Explai..." But albedo was cut off by Aura doing so.

"So, you know how we all try to [MESSAGE] Lord Ainz every hour on shifts so that there is ALWAYS someone trying to [MESSAGE] him?"

"Yes Aura, it was my idea, no need to explain it to me..." Albedo said rolling her eyes.

"R-right, sorry... but... I heard him! My [MESSAGE] connected and I heard Lord Ainz!" Aura said ecstatically. Now even the cross expression of Albedo turned to curiosity as she realized what Aura was actually saying.

"Auntie Aura?" two children ran in, a boy and girl. Both looked elven in nature and looked around the age of eight or nine. They each had a green right eye and blue left eye. the girl had black hair, tied back in a ponytail, wore well-made leather armor a sword and a confident look on her cute face. She confidently walked in wove to Cocytus, her teacher. Her brother, who was her exact twin came in after her. He had white straight black hair. Wore robes of a caster class and held a staff that used to belong to his father, Mare. He also tended to be shy, acting as mare would have as a child.

Cocytus beamed with pride as mist shot from his face in the happiness of seeing his student, Hitomi.

"HELLO HITOMI, ARE YOU KEEPING UP ON YOUR TRAINING?" Cocytus asked, forgetting the point of the meeting.

"Cocytus! We have more important things to discuss, don't you agree?" Albedo curtly said, motioning to Aura who was greeting her neice and nephew.

"Auntie Aura will play with you guys later, I have important new.. okay?"A teenage (about age 16) looking Aura said nicely. The Elf twin nodded.

"Come on Jin, let's go swimming!" Hitomi said as she read the vibe of the room and grabbed her introvert brother by his robe, dragging him out of the throne room.

"Okay so Aura, can you FINALLY tell us what Lord Ainz said... or..."

"Yeah, so when I cast [MESSAGE] I asked for Lord Ainz and where he was, and I heard him call out my name! he recognized it was me!" All the guardians gathered muttered happily amongst themselves.

"Okay, yes... and?" Albedo asked. Aura stopped and frowned.

"Oh... well that was it... he recognized my name from his tone... I could tell it was him! But then, something cut off the call..." Aura said sadly. The mood darkened.

"B-but we know he's alive now, right?"

"I never doubted for a second he was alive, we all knew he was safe!" Demiurge said. The gathered guardians nodded.

"Well yeah I know, but it's been... almost fifty years... so, maybe some of us..." Aura felt ashamed for even thinking her Lord might have actually perished, but many probably had that thought at least once.

"so, what do we do now, now that..."

"Well nothing has changed, we keep round the clock messaging to Lord Ainz if we connect once... we should be able to do it again, even if it takes another fifty years!" Albedo announced. The resolve in the Guardian's hearts has doubled anew as they now knew that Lord Ainz was trapped in that world with the faces on the rocks...

Outside the throne room, Jin and Hitomi walked with their new escort. She was a girl that looked their age, short brown hair pink eyes and pale skin.

"Nana Ridda? What's going on?" Jin asked with big eyes. Ridda smiled as she had heard Aura's voice.

"You and Hitomi have never met him... but there is a great man... names Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! He... did a lot of great things for me, for all of us..."

"Ainz Ooal Gown? I've heard Daddy and mommy say his name..." Jin said taking Ridda's hand.

"He is talked about a lo,t Jin... I've heard EVERYONE say that name at some point... but..." Hitomi said scratching her head.

"Well... he is the one that created Nazarick after all, along with the help of his friends, The 41 supreme beings!" Ridda said with a smile, a story she had learned in admiration of her adopted family.

"Oh, I know that! Daddy tells us the story of The great 41 supreme beings all the time before bed!"

"Yeah but... we just thought Ainz Ooal Gown..." Hitomi began.

"_Lord_ Ainz Ooal Gown Hitomi!" Ridda corrected her.

"R-right... we just thought _Lord_ Ainz Ooal Gown left like all the others?" Hitomi said in a confused voice as they walked the halls of Nazarick.

"He did leave but..." Ridda smiled and tears rolled down her face...

"I think he's coming back..."


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN= Itachi vs Pann (hidden plans and schemes)

Itachi had been fighting almost nonstop. Three strange creatures, perhaps once humans, ran at him. Their features were warped and twisted like they were screaming constantly, or maybe laughing hysterically. Their movements were unnatural, as if all their joints were double-jointed, as such landing strikes on them proved difficult.

"WWWhhhhaaaaaa" One shrieked and lunged at Itachi with inhuman speed. It flew through the air and swung at him. He dodged it with speed even faster than it could achieve and cut its throat with a blade he had hidden as it passed. It rolled and flipped to the ground, dead.

"KKKRAAYA" the other two abominations were attacking him, thinking they saw an opening but two Kuni fell from above them severing their spinal columns as the blade sank into the back of their necks. Itachi had thrown them when the first thing attacked him as he had cut it down. Like their partner, they too tumbled along the dirt floor, no longer alive.

"There is no end to them... " By his count he must have killed at least a hundred of these… things. He'd left a nice trail of bodies in his wake to prove this.

Itachi was well aware he was in a battle of attrition so he was not using any ninja arts or Sharingan powers to conserve his chakra for when he would really need it… these things that Orochimaru only served to slow him down.

He stopped to look around, there seemed to be no more enemies, for now, meaning he could travel further toward the hidden lab of the snake ninja that held his little brother, Sasuke.

As Itachi walked deeper in, aware of the traps that were set all around him, he ran with speed becoming his rank but easily avoided any blunders that his enemy might have laid out for him.

Five more monsters burst from the ground and had Itachi surrounded. They attacked him from every angle.

"Annoying…" a bright silver arc flashed through the air and Itachi was already returning his blade to it's sheath as the heads fell off the five ambushers. He knew he must be getting close to the entrance, at least he hoped he was. He still only saw trees and other vegetation… no signs of a compound or village.

But as he persisted he found a small… hidden path, this must be a path used by the inhabitants of Orochimaru's compound.

As he followed the trail it began to lead him to the men watching him. Deep within the lair that Itachi is attempting to raid three men look at several screens that are following the progression of Itachi. One points to the screen that shows Itachi finding the tail.

"He's doing better than expected," A tall pale man with white hair said. He is Kimimaro, the "bone ninja" that had a run-in with Tanya during the invasion.

"Well, we knew he'd beat those things… my brother is much stronger than anything like that," Sasuke said glaring at the man who had murdered his entire clan… his own brother Itachi Uchiha.

"Relax Sasuke, I will fulfill my agreement to you and make you strong enough to kill him… but that is not this day, please stay back and let us handle your brother." Orochimaru said with a long smile on his face. Sasuke looked at the screens, his brother was cutting through the opposition like it was nothing, and he wasn't using a single ninja skill.

"I know… Itachi has been the strongest person I've known for a very long time," Sasuke spat walking away from the screens. Kimimaro looked at his master, Orochimaru nodded his head to stay with Sasuke.

"Come Sasuke, let's continue your training," The Bone Shinobi said following Sasuke to the proving grounds. Orochimaru smiled. The appearance of this Ainz Ooal Gown had certainly played to his benefit.

In one fell swoop, he'd rendered the Leaf Village a non threat to his plans, killed his old master, and gotten his hands on his next body… yes, Ainz had played his part well so far, and it seemed he'd offer more help even yet.

On one of the monitors, a huge black hole opened up and the man he'd just been thinking about stepped through. Orochimaru looked on in anticipation within his dimly lit room for the show to begin.

Ainz stepped through the [GATE] portal. It was a night out and the stars were shining nicely. But up above was the only place that was peaceful. For on the ground littered thousands of bodies of the slain minions Orichimaru had thrown against Itachi. Ainz chuckled as Hidan walked after him.

"Well now, this is convenient," Ainz remark looking out at all the useful things that let cut and scattered everywhere.

"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, please be careful, Itachi could be anywhere," Hidan growled raising up his triple-bladed scythe. Ainz raised his hand to hold him back.

"It's fine Hidan, he is further up still, he is literally leaving a trail of bodies for us to follow."

"Oh, is that what is convenient?" Hidan asked blinking in confusion.

"No, what I mean is I will have a little surprise in store for our friend before the real fight even begins!" Ainz chuckled evilly.

"Hidan, please go collect any bodies behind us, and add them to this pile," Hidan looked puzzled but still immediately moved at his master's wish. It wasn't long till Hidan returned with several corpses in his arms, he laid them down where Ainz had instructed.

"Alright, this should be enough to get the ball rolling…" Ainz remarked with a smirk as he raised both hands in the air and began casting.

Further up Itach continued his onslaught. The attacks were changing, however, as if something big were on the way. He was getting attacked less which was odd considering how close he was getting. ButItachi's countless battles had taught him to read the flow of a battle. Almost as if on cue of his feeling the ground began to shake. Subtly at first but it began to get louder and louder as time went on.

Itachi stopped after cutting down his last opponent in the area and turned to look behind him. Whatever was coming was coming from his rear. Had he fallen into some kind of trap? Then something appeared.

"What is…" And it came into view. A huge black sphere of some kind was coming at him! The rumbling on the ground was made by the rolling of this huge massive ball of… bodies?

The ball was about 12 feet in diameter and barreling toward him much faster than something that size should be capable of with no hill to roll down first. Itachi activated his Sharingan and easily sidestepped the rolling ball of death.

BOOM!

The Ball detonated next to him as he jumped to the side. The first explosion was enormous and it sent dead bodies flying in every direction. It was then followed by many more as the bodies that the ball was made of began exploding like bombs of blood pus and negative energy, the attack effectively carpet-bombed the entire area.

The sound was deafening as countless explosions ripped the area and showered Itachi with burning viscera. Just the shock waves were enough to annihilate someone and the raining debris was certainly poison. But a burning figure surrounded Itachi. A huge red aura protected Itachi that took the form of a red armored warrior clad in heavy metal armor. The ability had been the one thing to save his life.

Itachi remained untouched and uninjured thanks to his overwhelmingly strong defense. The giant red-figure also held a large menacing sword and shield. Itachi knew that anything hit by this sword would be his to seal away forever… it was the one move he had planned to use on the skeleton thing that ruled over his Leaf Village.

The magnitude of the attack he had just witnessed alerted him that Ainz was probably on his way, and this sword may be the one thing in this world that could stop him… Itachi hoped anyway.

After the sickening debris of the corpse bomb had cleared Itachi saw him for the second time. The one known as Ainz Ooal Gown. He hovered in the air menacingly, his black-robed blowing in the wind and his blazing red eyes looking down at Itachi.

"Did you enjoy my ball?" Having all those bodies let me get creative in how to use my [DEAD AGAIN] spell," Ainz said raising his arms in an exaggerated shrug.

"So, you're working with Orochimaru now too huh?" Itachi spat. This conflict had come far too soon. He had wanted to rescue Sauke before having to deal with this monster.

"I guess you could say that… but more to the point, what do you call that ability you're using right now? It looks amazing!" Ainz said clapping his hands once in more exaggerated movements. Itachi just glared up at him.

"Susanoo…"

"Well, I'm glad you'll make this fun for me at least… let's begin shall we?" Ainz said taking up a position farther away from Iitach. Itachi was surprised that Ainz would back off, did he want Itachi to come to him? Or was this all just some clever ruse?

Ainz pointed at the ground before him. A huge summoning portal opened up and a creature walked out.

It had the overall form of a man, one ripped with incredible muscles, but its skin was slick black, almost like oil and it stood over eight feet tall. Its head looked like a goat head but with the same slick black skin. Its legs also resembled goat legs but the torso was that of man. From it's back five long wriggling tentacles waved back and forth that were at least 6 feet long each. But the most disturbing aspect of the creature were large biting mouths all over its body. They seemed to be placed randomly around its body and were biting and gnashing in the air. Its fingers were long and snake-like as well.

"BBLLLEEEAAAAATTTT!" Its howl was like a goat and a wolf screaming at the same time and it's burning,hate-filled eyes red eyes settled on Itachi. Itachi had never seen anything so horrible. The grass and any vegetation died in its presence immediately, it seemed anything alive would die in its presence.

"I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, this is Pann. He is the first son of Iä Shub-Niggurath. And the father to The Dark young… his brothers."

Itachi looked in disgust at the creature that was slowly stomping toward him. He had no idea what it was or what it was capable of… retreat was his best option, however…

He looked at Ainz who seemed content to let the two of them fight one on one, but he would no doubt halt any attempt on Itachi's part to run away.

"So I have to fight this… thing…" Itachi figured it was best to just keep his distance for now. He quickly threw a flurry of fire enhanced shuriken at Pann. The shuriken passed through the body of the Susanoo and exploded on contact as they hit Pann. Ainz gave out a disappointed sound and Itachi saw why.

"BBBLLLEERRGGG" Pann screamed as it looked to be unhurt whatsoever. It pointed its hands at Itachi and its fingers extended unbelievably fast. Too fast for Itachi to even make out. One second the black beast's fingers were normal, the next they were extending like long spears, it happened too fast for Itachi to see… that had not happened in a long time. However, he avoided any damage as he predicted an attack like this and had already calculated their trajectory and was already moving to dodge before the unseen attack happened.

Itachi pulled out as blade from his cloak, spun in an arc cutting off all the fingers that wee now barley inches from him.

""YYYAAAAAGGHHHH!" Pann bleated out in pain as it's fingers fell from its severed hand. Itachi made several hand gestures.

"Shadow clone jutsu" four more Itachi's appeared around him for a total of five. Pann stopped, he knew the one clad in the giant red armor aura was the real one so he ignored them, instead choosing to focus on the one he knew was real. The tentacles on its back waved around then shot up like his fingers had, too fast to see. The tentacles broke apart in the air, each tentacle becoming five more and rained down on him.

Fortunately, Itachi had his Susanoo's Yata shield raised, it easily reflected the black snake like weapons away. Pann seemed furious that his attack had failed. But he didn't have time to react as the four Itachi clones he ignored descended on him. They each got off one slash before bursting into a murder of crows from the AOE damage they took from getting too close to Pann.

The crows, which seemed like hundreds all flew around him, blocking his eyesight as all he could see were flapping birds cawed annoyingly over and over. Pann swung at them but his hands passed right through them… illusions.

The black goat creature became enraged, Itachi saw his opening and swung his Totsuka sword at the creature the weight of the sword flying through the air kicked up leaves as it came down on Pann.

Then time stopped.

"What?" Itachi couldn't move, somehow he was able to see and look around thanks to his Sharingan, but he was unable to move, and it did not feel like paralysis either as even leaves mid-air no longer moved.

"Time stop? Is this even possible?" But as he was wondering, his opponent was closing in on him fast. But Pann did not strike at him when he got close enough, he simply walked behind Itachi and waited. Itachi felt his life draining away from him by just standing in the presence of this monster… if this kept up, he'd be dead soon...

In this frozen world, Itachi's Susanoo also was useless. Pann was able to walk right past it as if it were not there and right up to Itachi.

"What is he waiting for?" Itachi wondered but then the leaves moved and so could Itachi as time resumed its normal course. Pann was already attacking and its giant black fist punctured the back of Itachi and came out his chest. Followed by a spray of blood.

Or so it seemed. Instead of a mangled body on the end of his hand were several black crows, perched all along his arm. Pann looked at them with slight confusion not understanding what had just happened.

"Fool… you fell for it!" Itachi said from all around Pann.

"Bllleaah?" Pann suddenly realized it was not where it once was. The skies were red and he was surrounded by hundreds of black crows that all glared at him with strange red eyes from on top large rotting wooden crosses.

"It's useless, I don't know what it will take to kill you… but we have thousands of years (from Pann's perspective) to find out," The sinister voice of Itachi said from every crow that glared hatefully at him.

In the real world, Itachi simply walked past a frozen Pann that was fighting imaginary opponents in its head. Ainz clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Itachi then turned covered Pann with black flames that would burn his body until nothing left as his mind was torn to shreds.

"To think he'd be weak to your Sharingan… what a pity, I was looking forward to a better fight than that… what a waste of a weekly summons," Ainz shook his head as he now seemed ready to fight Itachi.

Itachi held up his Susanoo's Yata Shield, an ability weapon that would reflect any attack possible.

"If I can hit him… I'll be able to seal him away in my Tosuka… but will I find an opening?" Itachi thought. Assuming Ainz could not also stop time like that creature had done his defense was impenetrable. He only needed an opening.

"I see… so you're just going to stand there? Instead of coming right to me?"

"I can't find an opening if I don't just stand here," Itachi smirked confidently. Then Ainz took a step.

"He's coming..." Itachi didn't think Ainz would be that foolish and he was right.

"Well if you can't move then… [DISINTEGRATION RAY]!" Ainz pointed at Itachi and a bright green beam streaked out of his finger at the immobile Itachi. Itachi raised his Yata shield to counter the attack.

And it was gone.

Itachi looked around him in shock as his Susanoo was… destroyed. Not only had the attack blasted his perfect shield to nothing but it obliterated the body of the Susanoo… something that simply wasn't possible.

"I've lost…" Itachi understood the conditions of his victory and they were no longer possible, and the monstrous strength of Ainz Ooal Gown meant nothing in his power would save his life. Itachi dropped his guard and raised his hands.

"You win… are you simply here to kill me?"

"Well, no… I've been asked to deliver you to Oricimaru gift wrapped and everything,"

"Really? How boring… well… get to it then…" but Ainz did not move.

"That exploding ball I threw at you earlier… what it really did was destroy all the cameras Orochimaru had in this area, meaning he hasn't been watching us fight… so let's talk," Ainz said walking closer to Itachi. This seemed almost too good to be true, but what choice did he have.

"Very well monster… speak,"

Sometime later in the lair of Orochimaru, a familiar black portal opened up and Ainz walked through holding an unconscious Itachi. Orochimaru and several other guards and Kabuto.

"Ah, welcome Lord Ainz Ooal Gown… and you even brought me a gift?" Orochimaru hissed happily. Ainz tossed the body of Itachi on the ground.

"He'll be awake in under an hour, so I suggest you get him whenever you need him before then," Ainz explained. Kubuto leaned over the fallen Itachi and stuck him with a needle, extracting blood. He held his hand over the vial of blood as his hand began to glow with chakra, he squinted at the vial and nodded once in approval.

"It's him." Is all Kabuto said as He picked up the body and took it off someplace.

"Then our terms are fulfilled?" Ainz asked turning to Oricimaru who nodded.

"Yes, my organization the uh… Hidden Sound Village is officially your ally and at your disposal Lord Ainz Ooal Gown," he said with the same long smile as before. Ainz nodded.

"Good, we will probably find ourselves clashing with the Lightning Nation before too long," At that mention Oricimaru's smile vanished, he was no doubt thinking about the leader and his brother… the ones who was said to be unbeatable when together.

"Very well… we will begin preparing for such a conflict, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown. Ainz didn't care for the way Oricimaru said the word "lord" almost as if he were making an inside joke… but he let it go.

"Orochimaru, I'd like you to help Tanya when you have the time. She can't learn the reanimation Jutsu you discovered with your input." Ainz said truthfully. Orochimaru nodded his head.

"You must have read about it in the ninja arts scroll?… To think my findings were being recorded by the leaf after all… yes well that makes perfect sense as I had not yet completed that art when I was a member of the leaf… ok have Tanya sent here at her convenience and I'll teach her that and more," Orochimaru promised.

"Alright then… I'll contact you by way of [MESSAGE] with any orders I might have…. [GATE]." Ainz cast the convenient spell again, stepped through and returned to his temporary Nazarick.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN= Devil of The Rhine (Secret affairs)

Tanya waited for Ainz to return. He left several minutes ago to take care of Itachi and would probably not come right back here. But she waited because it was all she could do.

"Wait for me to return," were his final words before he and Hidan left for the sound village. She peered down at the scroll and opened it.

"No point in wasting this time then…" She found the ninjitsu that she had been working on and began mimicking the hand signs needed to bring out the right amount of chakra at the right time. As she continued her reading someone knocked on her door. Slightly annoyed that her training was already getting interpreted she walked to the door and opened it.

"Oh, Sir Danzo… what brings you here?" Tanya asked looking at the smiling older man.

"Sorry to disturb you, Tanya… but one of our spies has spotted something that I think you would be keen on seeing," Danzo said as his smile turned to a frown, it must not be good what he wished to show her. She sighed and nodded. Grim Reaper Thanatos walked behind her.

As the two of them walked Danzo looked at her, he had something he wanted to ask. Tanya picked up on this and looked up at him, her large blue eyes looking at him curiously.

"You seem to have something else you wish to say?" Danzo nodded at her question.

"Where are you from? I've gathered that you and Lord Ainz Ooal Gown are not from this… world. So I was wondering…"

"What my world was like?" He nodded.

"It was a world caught up in a world war… countries uniting to defeat other countries… A world at War." She plainly said with no emotion attached to it.

"Doesn't sound too different from this world sometimes…"

"Yeah well… war never changes" she said coldly. Danzo nodded in agreement.

"But other than that it's a terrible world filled with incompetence… I don't mind serving under Ainz… he at least seems to know what he's doing." She explained. Danzo nodded in agreement. A group of approaching shinobi moved out of the way for them as they continued down the hall.

"It does seem like Lord Ainz Ooal Gown knows what…"

Then something happened. Danzo and her bodyguard Grim Reaper Thanatos froze like time had stopped. Tanya looked around she knew this could mean…

"Enjoying your time off in this world?" A familiar mocking voice asked her from behind her. It was A random passing Shinobi but the voice was one of…

"Being X!" Tanya spat and turned to see the sneering face of the normal soldier but she knew it was just Being X, come to taunt her like before.

"Hello… it's been some time since we last talked," he said. Tanya growled and reached for her gun, she trained it on the smirking face but then Danzo began talking in the same annoying voice.

"How has your faith been growing?" "Danzo" asked. Tanya quickly turned with a smug smile of her own.

"Faith? Ha! Since coming here I've learned skills and abilities that allow me to fight under my own power… I haven't needed to pray for some time now!" She said with no small amount of pride in her voice.

Being X then began speaking from one of the Shinobi that they passed.

"You think the abilities you learn here could ever match divine power? I am disappointed in you…" then another ninja began to talk.

"Perhaps you should try adding a prayer to your next "ninja move". You might be pleasantly surprised!" He said in a mocking tone once more. Tanya frowned, realizing he was playing another one of his games.

"Is toying with me really this fun for you?" She asked with a glare.

"Toying? I am teaching you, my dear Tanya!" The random ninja said before the voice came from his friend standing next to him.

"It's a teacher's job to help gifted and… stubborn student realizes. their potential after all…" his tone sounds serious this time like he meant what he said.

"You're lessons are nothing but self-indulgence… why would I care about your tutelage?"

"Because of Ainz Ooal Gown…" The ninja puppet said. Tanya took a step back.

"Ainz? What does he have to do with this?" She asked furiously and trained her rifle back on the mindless ninja.

"Because I know Ainz. I know him better than you do… and he will sacrifice you when the time comes." At those words, she glared angrily at the shinobi. She suddenly made several hand signs and was surrounded by electricity. It crackled around her as she held her arms to the floor the energy gathered in her palm. With no hesitation, she dashed at the controlled shinobi and stretched out her palm that was wrapped in electricity.

"Lightning cutter!" Tanya cut the man in half. His body fell to the floor and his insides spilled out yet he continued to talk as if nothing had happened.

"And when Ainz finally does use you up…"

"You don't like him do you?" her question made Being X pause.

"Because he took me from that world you put me in… you hate him!" She smiled and laughed as she wiped the blood from her hand. The puppet sneered in disgust then everything was normal once more.

"What?"

"Toshio!"

The men that were standing around the now-dead ninja looked at Tanya in fear and confusion, they had no idea what had happened, just that one second they were talking to their friend about patroles and the next he was on the ground cut in half. Tanya was standing over his body and the other two men jumped away from her, unsure if they were next.

She finished cleaning the blood with a handkerchief and tossed it on the dead ninja. She was still smiling from her remark to Being X. She suddenly realized her situation. She looked at the people staring at her in fear.

"He uh… was part of the resistance to Lord Ainz Ooal Gown's authority," this was a lie, but as her position was to root out any resistance, the story would work.

His friends looked at him and then her.

"We… we had no idea! How did you know?" One asked. Tanya thought and turned to him.

"I um… have my informants… now get back to work!" She ordered harshly. The men looked at their dead friend once more and went about their way, as there was nothing else much to do.

Tanya wondered what Being X wanted… if it really was just to turn her against Ainz then Being X must really fear him… another smile crossed her face as she realized that had to be the case. Ainz had once claimed to be able to kill anything… she could work that to her advantage… problem was getting Being X to reveal himself around Ainz...

She would inform Ainz of this encounter when he returned from the sound village. Danzo simply looked at her without saying a word and proceeded as if nothing odd had happened. The two continued their walk.

"So… what is this thing I should see?" Tanya asked still wondering if Being X could still be around.

"A message that I think was meant for you or Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, and as he's currently away." he lead her to the top of the highest guard wall. On an open plain there read in plain English.

"DEVIL OF THE RHINE."

Tanya's mouth dropped open as she stared at the name she was known for in her world.

"By your reaction, I take it this is meant for you?" Danzo asked. Tanya nodded slowly.

"Yes… this is what my enemies knew me as…" Tanya could take a few guesses as to who this could be.

"So then… another enemy soldier that can use this "magic" of yours and Ainz?" Tanya bit her thumb out of frustration.

"I'm being called out… how ridiculous!" She sneered. Tanya turned and headed for the Her floor on Nazarick. Danzo looked at her with the same look as he always had.

"How strong were you on your world? From what I understand Lord Ainz Ooal Gown was nearly unmatched…" Tanya thought about it…

"I guess you could argue I was one of the stronger ones… I certainly never met my match in combat, though there was one girl who… was hard to kill," Tanya thought back to the girl from before, who had used a weird selection of attacks and certainly had some grudge against her, but she knew not why.

Danzo did not press the issue and left her to contemplate her next move. She did not think Being X was responsible for the burned grass spelling out her nickname, but that didn't mean nothing either.

"Anyway… I have much I need to report to Lord Ainz, I'll return to Nazarick," She informed Danzo who nodded at her yet still seemed concerned.

As she crossed the territory of the Forest of Death Tanya's ears picked up the subtle movement of bushes.

Suddenly, two ninjas with covered faces sprang out at her from behind a tree and bush. Fortunately one had moved a little too hastily and given away their presence before the attack was sprung. Tanya was ready for them.

The first one used a ninja art, making leaves fly all around her, trying to cause a distraction. The Second ninja used a fire release jutsu causing the leaves to burst in flames. Tanya couldn't see past the spirling flames that surrounded and burned her. Two shadows appears from either side of her on the other side of the flames. Soon her attackers burst through with weapons drawn. But Tanya had used this time to form her own hand signals and several light blue butterflies flew around her within the swirling flames of her enemies attack. Her attackers were caught in a paralyzing shock as the electric butterflies flew into her enemies and exploded in shock waves.

"Heh!" Tanya smiled sadistically as she spread her arms out, increasing their range and detonating the rest. The ripple of explosions decimated their bodies. She immediately prepared for their substitution jutsu counter attack… but none came. She still waited, her eyes darting back and forth in anticipation of an attack.

"Weak…" once she realized the attack was over. She casually walked over to the ninjas and removed their face masks. As expected, it was the friends of the man she murdered earlier.

"How typical," but this didn't surprise her. Friendship ran deep among team members of The leaf Village. It made sense they would want to avenge the death of their friend but… the reason she stayed on such high alert still was she felt she was still not alone.

"Do you require assistance?" Grim Reaper Thanatos asked. He was standing some yards behind her watching the whole thing go down. Tanya rolled her eyes in his need of a direct order to do anything.

"Um… in the future… wait, did you by chance hear my conversation earlier with Being X by chance?"

"Oh when you killed that young man? Yes, I sensed a [TIME STOP] spell and rendered myself immune to it. Tanya slapped her hand to her face in frustration. She hadn't thought to give Thanatos an order at that time…

That might have even been an opening she missed attack Being X with the help of Grim Reaper Thanatos's help… she would remember this in the future.

"In the future… when I am attacked, please move to defend me… that is your job after all…" Thanatos nodded that he understood and they continued on. But it still bothered her…

"I'm going to my floor, please stay on guard outside the entrance to my floor," She ordered Thanatos. Tanya made her way to the bathing room provided for her and tripped to nothing as her tub filled with warm water. She was fairly dirty from the days… events.

As she submerged her body in warm water and sank beneath its surface she could only think about the Words Being X had told her. That Ainz would sacrifice her when the time suited him. On top of that… she still had that weird feeling that she was not alone. It had not gone away since entering Nazarick which probably meant it was just in her head, her paranoia about Being X always made her feel uneasy.

"Bah!" She exclaimed coming up from the hot water and breathing in.

As she bathed however, a pale white figure lying in wait keeps its single yellow eye trained on her with a sinister smile. It moved beneath the floor, merging with the wood of the fortress of Nazarick.

Tanya was laying on her back with her eyes closed allowing herself to unwind in the hot water. A large mouth opened up beneath her bathtub like a white venus fly trap. It silently closed around her and the bathtub she layed in.

"Wha?" he eyes sprang open just in time for the trap to close over her and block out any light. She began forming hand signals in the pure darkness but…

"Are you sure you want to do that? You're completely submerged in water… are you sure using your lightning jutsu is such a good idea?" The voice came from all around her in a mocking tone that she did not recognize.

"Who… what…"

"Just relax Tanya… I've been following you for some time and I know what you are capable of… I wouldn't try anything if I were you," The voice sounded calm and sinister at the same time.

"Shit… I'm caught?" the walls of her new prison began closing in on her. Her only other strong attack that was no lightning would be prayer based attack… but she did not have her rifle on her at this moment.

"This is bad…" She didn't know what this attack had in store for her but she did not wish to find out by the usual method. Just as her walls were about to crush her bathtub and her, they disintegrated.

"What?" Tanya stammered as her prison now seemed to be reduced to ash and blowing away like dead leaves in the wind. She looked around. Grim reaper Thanatos was in her room with his hand outstretched. He must have used some kind of Spell on her attacker.

"You seemed to be under attack so I…" He began. Tanya leapt to her feet and looked at the ground she saw a smirking face vanishing below her on the floor.

"It's going below to the second floor!" tanya ran out the room and down the stairs as she passed her rifle it spun into her hands with ease. They followed to the unguarded floor but the thing kept its course downward, it must be looking to escape in the ground! Tanya realized and continued going lower as she figured that's where it was headed.

She hurried down the stairs followed by Thanatos to Gaara's floor. She saw Garaa sitting with his gourd on his back in a kind of meditation, he was probably talking to the one tails in his body.

"Gaara! Nazarick is under attack!" Tanya yelled he sprang to his feet at the sound of alarm and sand began to circle around him. Tanya pointed at the ceiling. They could make out a white figure traveling along the wooden beams… it seemed this thing could only move through the wood of Nazarick.

"I got him… Sand Bullets" Gaara pointed at the escaping intruder as several small sand bullets fired out. They struck the exposed back of the white creature as it tried to switch between two beams.

"Arrrg…" It let out a groan of pain as the sand bullets buried into its body. Gaara smiled and closed his hands into fists.

"Rupture…" Suddenly the bullets lodged in the intruders body exploded, tearing out huge chunks of its body.

"Grahhh!" The scream was now louder as a naked white figure fell out of the ceiling clutching it's chest in pain. Tanya took aim at the man and fired several normal shots. The bullets ripped what was left of the falling man into shreds. He was dead before he hit the ground.

But when it hit, it resembled a dead plant shaped like a weird man.

"Substitution technique?" Tanya asked. But Gaara looked at the husk and shook his head.

"This… is something different… I would guess that…" but then he suddenly broke off his sentence. Tanya and Thanatos looked at Gaara, wondering why he suddenly stopped talking. He was staring at Tanya with an odd look on his face.

"What? Why are you…" she suddenly realized that she was standing in front of Gaara, wet and completely naked, save for her rifle.

"Uh… uh…" Gaara seemed to struggle to form words from this unexpected sight. Tanya blushed and ran back up stairs.

After getting dried and dressed she took out a scroll that Ainz had given her incase of emergencies.

"Ainz? Nazarick was infiltrated and I was attacked on my floor…"

"What? How is that possible?" His voice was one of genuine shock.

"The attacked could move through wood. Also… I had another face to face with my old friend… Being X…" Ainz seemed to take some time thinking before answering

"Okay, I'll head back immediately so you can tell me everything in greater detail." Tanay ended the message and waited for Ainz on his floor with a somewhat awkward acting Gaara. Soon he familiar opening portal of [GATE] appeared. Ainz, followed by Hidan, walked through.

Upon seeing the husk Hidan immediately knew who it was.

"This was wa White Zetsu clone… if he's been snooping around here… then that's bad news," Hidan spat.

"Oh?" Ainz asked, wanting an elaboration.

"He's weak… but he's sneaky, he was our acting information gatherer and he was very good at it… We can assume he's been hiding here for sometime if he just now made a move on Tanya." Hidan explained with a deepening frown. Tanya wondered how much this "White Zetsu" had been able to find out about their situation.

"At any rate… we should expect an increase in Akatsuki movement against us… also there could be more of these around… with this ebing a forest… he will have infinite places to hide his clones. Ainz seemed deeply troubled by this.

"I don't like this… information is the most powerful weapon… and this is a breach of unprecedented means… you said his name is "White Zetsu" right?" Ainz turned to Hidan who nodded.

"If he was all white then he's separated from his other self…. Black Zetsu, they work as a team in information gathering and relay," Ainz nodded, turned and cast [MESSAGE].

"Hello… is this White and Black Zetsu?" He could feel his [MESSAGE] somehow connect to two minds at once. They both seemed scared and surprised to hear a voice in their head suddenly. The fact that Ainz could connect to them at all meant they were in a certain distance of himself…

"WHo is this? How can we hear another voice in our head? Only we should be able to…"

"You're the rat that's been running around my forest, aren't you? Well… no more of that, [POWER WORD DEATH]." As soon as Ainz cast the spell he felt it work and the [MESSAGE] spell ended. The spell had worked and he had instantly killed both this WHite Zetsu and Black Zetsu at the same time.

Ainz turned to the group who still had no idea what he'd just done.

"You're right, he was weak…both Zetsu's are dead," the eyes blinking back at him showed they did not understand. Ainz shrugged. He motioned for tanya to follow him to his floor. His questions began as soon as the door was shut.

"So what was this about Being X?" Ainz asked. Tanya told him about the conversation they had, how she had "accidently" killed the ninja and how his friends had tried to get revenge on her, and the message left to her from someone of her world.

"So… someone else from your world is here? And ready to attack…" Ainz surmised.

"They are clearly attempting to draw me out into the open…" Tanya sneered. Ainz sat back thinking for a moment.

"Then… you should take them up on their invitation!" He said happily. Tanya looked at him in disbelief.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN= Desperate Escape (answered prayers are a pain!)

Naruto sat with his back to the wall. He was tired from training all day. Pervy Sage had gone off to work on his next novel, claiming that he, Naruto should rest for the next week.

"Why did you leave so suddenly? And just when I learned how to use Rasengan!" Naruto smiled triumphantly but then frowned.

"Sasuke…"

Naruto had learned early on that his rival had been taken by Orochimaru… he desperately wanted to save him but had no idea where to start, and would need to get stronger first.

"Sasuke is so stubborn… I might have to wallop him first before he comes back… I have to make sure that hit is as strong as my feelings are…" Naruto looked at his own clenched fist. With this… I might just have that wallop Sauke might need…

Naruto then wondered about Sakura. Last he heard she stopped training as a shinobi and worked full time at her friend Ino's family flower shop. She never talked about the day Ainz Ooal Gown took over the leaf… but it was a day after that, she quit the shinobi force.

Naruto stood up and began making his way to town when he saw a girl standing not far from him. He was surprised, he had been alone until now… she had shown up without his knowledge.

"Who are you?" Naruto called out. The way she was dressed unnerved him… it was similar to how Tanya dressed, like a weird soldier's uniform. She looked at him and smiled.

"You can call me Marry Sue… You're Naruto, right?" Naruto's intuition of danger immediately flared up… she was an enemy. He did not answer her, instead just glared at her.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked… he was too drained from training and his chakra was running low as well from practicing Rasengan all day. He did not have what it would take to beat her if she was on the same level as Tanya.

A shadow of a large bird overhead caught Naruto's attention. As he looked up two other people in black robes jumped off the white bird and landed around Naruto.

"It's best you just come with us kid… HMM?" A blonde ninja with hair covering one eye and a ponytail said.

"We've already wasted enough time… let's get this over with!" A hunchbacked ninja with a mask and long weird tail swinging behind him said gruffly.

"I don't know who you guys are but…" Naruto eyed them carefully.

"Just come with us without making too much a fuss," the brown-haired girl said as she held a knife out in a manner Naruto knew was an aggressive stance. He tried to figure out which one would move first. At the moment it was a standoff.

"Shadow clones Jutsu!" Naruto crossed his fingers and ten more versions of him popped into existence. His attackers took a step back

"How can this kid make so many of himself, you said he looked out of chakra?" Mary Sue asked.

"It's called chakra… and this is probably the last of it. The ninja with the blonde hair suddenly threw out some weird sculptures. The Narutos tried to avoid the weird white little things but they exploded upon hitting the ground, their explosions were enough to cover the entire area with explosions.

"Waahahhh!"

Poof Poof Poof Poof Poof Poof Poof Poof Poof

With a second all of the clones Naruto had created were gone in a white puff of smoke. But when the dust had settled not even the real Naruto was there, nor was his body on the ground.

"Above…"

Without looking up the hunchback ninja fired his tail into the air above them. As predicted Naruto had attempted to simply use them as decoys but such a tactic wouldn't work on this level of shinobi.

"Damn…" naruto cursed as he watched the tail shooting straight at him. He was suspended in mid-air and unable to dodge the blow that was sure to come.

WHOOSH!

An incredible burst of wind blew past the battlefield. The wind howled and whipped around the shinobi. The one with the tail grabbed the girl and used his body to shield her as they felt a welling of chakra within the wind. A current then came with the wind and cut like a huge blade through the air.

Another gale-force wind blew into the area that sent naruto flying head over heels into the air. Before naruto could figure out what was even happening someone caught him in mid-air. Or rather something…

"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown said you might be targeted at some point… to think they would show up this quickly!" A female voice said. Naruto suddenly realized he was being held by a large ninja beast that looked like a one-eyed weasel. He blinked once or twice at the voice and saw a blonde girl in a black kimono, riding on top a large fan.

"Oh you're…"

"Temari, loyal servant to Lord Ainz Ooal Gown… at your service," the cute girl said with a smile. Naruto wasn't sure where this girl came from or why she was here but he recognized her as an alley.

"We need to get out of here… these guys are…" Naruto was saying but realized they were already flying off.

"We'll get them!"

"Hurry up Deidara, we're losing them!"

"I am Sasori hold on!" Deidara was calling down his ride that the three jumped on and gave chase.

As Naruto and Temari flew through the air, towards the walls of The Hidden Leaf another shinobi was flying above them. It was a pale boy with a black and grey ANBU outfit and he wore a Leaf headband.

"Sai! Glad to see a fellow ANBU member!" Temari said waving at him, he barely acknowledged her and flew alongside her on a weird blackbird that looked to be made of ink.

"I've been watching them since they flew into our territory…" Said in an emotionless voice as he looked over his shoulder at the approaching enemies.

"They're fast… they will have us soon…" The young ninja who Naruto had never seen before said as he turned and looked at them once more with a slight frown.

"I can delay them but…" Temari said worriedly, the fact that they had taken her sneak attack and barely received any damage, combined with those robes she was told to be wary of… she knew they were far stronger than she was.

"Did you send word for help? I just happened to see the explosion on my recon patrol…" Temari said thankfully for her luck. Sai shook his head.

"Keep Naruto safe… that was our order, you get him to the leaf… I'll provide the distraction for the two of you…"

"What? You'll die! Those guys are…"

"I know who they are… and I'll be okay, we already have more back up on the way…" Sai informed her. Apparently, the Leaf was prepared for these three invaders. Naruto had heard about someone "calling out" The top officer of Nazarick, Tanya.

"Wait, so that crazy girl is coming?" Naruto asked with a frown as he let himself be carried by the shinobi beast that could fly very fast. Said only shrugged.

"I only know… he is coming…" Said pointed at a figure on the ground ahead of them. Temari smiled when she realized who it was.

"Kakuzu? Didn't he work with those guys?"

"Yes… but there is no loyalty between them,"

"Can he win? There's two of them?" Naruto asked. Sai just shrugged.

"He'll be fine… I heard he's pretty tough," Sai said as Kakuzu reached his arms into the air.

Kakuzo's arms suddenly extended and shot out, seemingly attached by some kind of metal threading that also seemed to not wane in thickness as it got longer. His arms grabbed the giant white bird that was following them.

It rocked and began getting pulled into the ground.

"Deidara! We're losing speed and altitude…" Mary Sue cried as she looked over the edge of the bird and saw a man with very long and weird looking arms grabbing them from the ground.

"Damn that traitor… wasting our time like this..." Sasori cursed as he jumped off the bird and dive-bombed down straight at Kakuzu. Kakuzu saw his attacker coming down more metal-like strands came from his body, almost appearing like large, thick, metal tentacles.

"You're fighting me Sasori? I'm the worst possible opponent for you!" Kakuzu laughed as his metal arms shielded the plunging attack Sasori delivered with his metal tail. The impact made a loud metal on metal sound and Sasori was flung back and away from Kakuzu.

"You really think that? I don't care how many hearts you have… my venom can easily work its way to them if I hit you…".'

"You think I don't know how your poison works?" Kakuzu said as he lopped off the metal arm Sasori had struck with his tail. It was already looking like it was rusting over from years of laying in the elements.

"I know you made a poison especially to kill me and Hidan… I never underestimate my opponents Sasori…" The mercenary Ninja said with confidence. Sasori clicked his tongue… cautious people like himself were the worst kinds of opponents.

The hunchbacked form changed when Sasori flung off his black robe, revealing a huge demon face for a back, his metal tail snaking out of its mouth like a deadly tongue.

"Should we help him?" Naruto asked his rescuers. Temari looked at Sai and both shook their heads.

"He's merely a mercenary hired by Lord Ainz Ooal Gown… his life is meaningless to us," Said said as he looked away. Temari did the same without saying a word. Naruto frowned and crossed his arms in pouting type cross.

"Well, he's still helping us… that makes him an alley, who cares if only because we pay him!" Naruto whined as they broke away from the conflict.

"Mr. Deidara we're still falling!" Mary Sue cried as the grasp from Kakuzu was still not broken. Deidara was thinking about what he could do… fire and explosions would never work on Kakuzu… he had no appreciation of art.

"Wait... " Deidara reached into his coat, his palms opened up with mouths that chewed up his clay, infused it with his chakra and allowed him to form any form her wanted them to take. His hands spat out two little cat looking clay models, one of which had wings.

"You think you can do that thing you showed us again, with these?" Deidara asked. Mary Sue nodded and took both cat models in her hands and began praying.

"Lord… hear my prayer and answer my plea… allow your glorious power to reign down over us and allow me to win this battle!" Her eyes lit up with a bright golden color and the cats turned bright red with traces of black energy coming from them.

She dropped one directly at Kazuku as the one with wings took off at incredible speeds toward the fleeing Naruto. Kazuku saw the tiny bomb falling at him but ignored it, he knew Deidara's power well, and knew he was immune to it, he was probably just trying to create a distraction for Sasori to use, is what Kazuku thought, but knew he made a mistake as soon as he heard Deidara call out…

"Sasori! Fall back… incoming!" And at that warning, the hunched figure of Sasori jumped several times away from his opponent. Kazuku could sense something was off about that warning and looked up again just in time to see a red cat sculpture landing on his face.

KA-KOOM!

The Explosion was several times larger than even Deidara was expecting and the colors of the fire and flames were not natural. The smoke was a deep purple instead of black and the fire was golden and a blood-red instead of orange. What's more is they could hear Kazuku screaming in pain within the fire.

The updraft of the explosion sent their white bird several feet into the air, as the explosion kept burning with intense flames, another thing his art could not achieve. His eyes were wide with awe and his mouth open in disbelief.

"That… was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" Deidara cried falling to his knees at the incredible explosion she had helped him make. Mary Sue seemed scared still and was grabbing onto her mount with both hands as the bird tossed in the air from the violent explosion down below.

"Did… Did I do well Mr. Deidara?" Mary Sue asked. Deidara was unable to take his eyes off the burning area his bomb had made, his happy expression looking on the verge of insanity.

"Yes… yes. Yes yes yes yes!" You did well! You…. why didn't you TELL me you were such a great artist!" Deidara cried in trumpet cheer with his arms up in the air. Mary Sue cocked her head to the side.

"Artist? No, Mr. Deidara, I am a soldier!" She proudly stated but he was ignoring her.

"My partner… Sasori…"He looked down at the ruined landscape and saw the form of a hunchbacked face with a tail wagging back and forth to them that he was okay.

"He must have really heeded that warning, he ran away so far… but it saved his life… that Sasori is cautious one alright, looks like Sasori is okay but wants to carry on by himself," Deidara noted and turned to look ahead of them, he had almost forgotten there was another grand display of art still to take place!

"Something happened…" Sai said, looking behind them. Naruto and Temari glanced back and saw a huge explosion where Kazuku had been.

"Then they probably killed that mercenary and are headed for us…" Temari spat in anger. And she was right, in the distance, they saw the large white clay bird still in the air and approaching them fast.

"What is that?" Naruto asked pointing at a strange glowing red dot that was rapidly gaining on them.

"I don't know, probably another bomb like we just saw… or some other kind of attack!" Temari said in worry.

"Then we just need to intercept it…" Sai said as he took a scroll off his back and began painting birds on it. The birds suddenly leap off the paper and flew at the red dot.

"Prepare for a shockwave when my bird hit…" Sai was warning but the red dot weaved and dodged his birds like it had a mind of its own.

"Impossible…" Sai muttered, but the glowing red dot was still fast approaching.

"I can't use my fan to attack, we need it to fly…" Temari warned as her and Naruto were hunched down on her fan flying next to Sai, her summon had used it's time up a while back.

"If that thing hits us… we're dead!" Temari yelled and Naruto turned to face it.

"Well… I'll use the last of my chakra… Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto crossed his fingers and many clones of Naruto appeared in the air. One clone reached out to another, grabbing their arm or leg and hurling them at the red dot before falling a few feet and poofing out of existence.

"LET'S GO!" the Clones cheered as they flew toward the cat bomb. Once again it took evasive maneuvers and whipped in between the Narutos that were thrown at it.

"Damn… missed…" Sai remarked in dread but Naruto smiled.

"Not yet…" All the clones that missed turned to face the back of the cat bomb, they all reached into their bags and threw a hail of kuni at the back of the bomb. The bomb could only see what was in front of it so was struck by one of the thrown blades and was cut in half as the shadow blade cut right through it.

"It'll probably…" Temari was arming it would still explode still, which it did. The same kind of explosion that had killed Kazuku erupted in the air. The force sent all the young ninja flying helplessly through the air head over heels. Sai's ink bird was destroyed and he fell alongside them.

"Shit…" Temari managed to maintain ahold of her fan but just barley and was also falling. She couldn't write it sideways wither so kept falling. The three ninja looked at the spinning ground quickly approaching them.

"We're too high up… we're approaching terminal velocity…" Temari realized… they would easily be killed by the impact if something didn't happen quick. She looked at Sai who seemed out of ideas and waiting to die. She looked at Naruto, expecting the same but… he had caught his posture and was standing straight in the air, he was muttering something to himself, or possibly talking to his tailed beast when he bit into his thumb… a summons?

Temari was right, there came a large summoning smoke from below them and they were caught by a huge frog smoking a pipe. It seemed confused at first as it held the near unconscious body of Naruto in his hands, alongside the other two ninja that still took a jolt from being caught mid-fall.

"Huh? You again? I thought Jiraya was the one who summoned me… how…?"

"No t-time for questions old man… we're still u-under attack…" Naruto pointed at the white bird approaching them.

"Hmmm… I see…" the frog blew out a huge plume of tobacco smoke and squinted at the bird as it reached for it's katana. Naruto noticed one arm looked discolored.

"Hey old man… didn't you're arm get cut off?" Naruto asked, remembering something the pervy sage had said. The frog looked annoyed for a moment.

"It grew back…" He said quietly and readied to cut the bird out of the air. Temari and sai were now getting to their feet but noticed a dark figure rushing them.

"Another enemy from the ground!" Sai warned. It was a young-looking man with short red hair and a black cloak with red clouds on it.

"I'll go... " Sai said and took out the same scroll from before, Temari jumped next to him.

"He's Akatsuki… this will be hard for just you…" Temari warned but Sai didn't look too pleased.

"I was going to just buy time… even the two of us can't beat him… and we'll have to deal with that before him… this is a bad situation…" Sai said pointing at the white bird that was almost in threat range.

"Naruto… he's their target…" Temari said looking over her shoulder at the lad who could barely stay awake. The large frog was holding him close.

"Um... " Temari said looking up at the frog.

"Gamabunta…" the large frog said, telling them his name.

"Right… Gamabunta… we need you to get Naruto to safety, that's the top priority here," She explained. Gamabunta looked over his shoulder, The Hidden Leaf village wall was still a bit a ways away.

"Will you two be okay?" It asked doubtfully. Sai and Temari smiled.

"Probably not… but we ninja never expect to live long anyway…" She said readying her fan behind her for a large gust attack. He seemed nonplus with their answer but nodded and lumped away, each leap covering many feet at a time.

"HAAAA!" Temari unleashed her most powerful galeforce wind at the flying bird and then used it as a flying object and took off at the bird. Sai painted several large tigers that jumped up and ran toward Sasori who was still away behind the flying bird.

The torrent of wind knocked the bird off its course of attempting to follow the fleeing frog boss. She smiled as she saw how effective her wind was at cutting them off. The bird lost balance and flew end over end from her attack. Two figures fell off the bird. The one known as Deidara and another unknown young girl.

Deidara managed to catch his balance and also caught the falling girl, saving her from harm. They landed several feet away and ignored the ink tigers that ran past them at Sasori.

"They know they will in this…" Sai said with no emotion to Temari who only nodded.

"We've done our mission… dying now would be an honorable death I suppose…" Temari said with a forced smile. In truth, she wanted to see how her brothers would grow up and become amazing shinobi.

Sasori summoned a large puppet. It had spiky brown hair and a brown cloak that covered its body. The puppet released a black substance from its arms. The black stuff engulfed the approaching tigers and easily destroyed them then made its way for Temari and Sai.

Temari blasted it with another gale force wind but it went through her wind like it was nothing.

"Iron sand? But that was the fabled third Kazekage's jutsu… that… must be his body?" She had heard rumors by her brother about a theory that this had happened but to be fighting it sank all of her hopes that remained to despair as she fully realized the power of just one of the Akatsuki.

As if they understood neither of the three enemy shinobi discussed anything. They knew they could not stop the sand or outmaneuver it, they were simply too weak against the face of an enemy this powerful.

"What will the sand do?" Sai asked with no fear in his voice. Temari shook her head without saying anything as the black wave of death came closer to them, then finally covering them at a speed too fast for them to avoid, both we poisoned before they were crushed to death.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN= The Way.

Ainz was sitting at his desk when Tanya came in without knocking. He looked up at her as she made her way to his desk.

"What's going on?" he could sense something was wrong by the look on her face.

"There was an attack… Kakuzu, Temari and um… another ninja were killed… oh, Sai was his name," Ainz looked at her and stood up.

"What are the details?"

"Naruto was attacked outside the village during his training, he managed to escape and is safe here but…"

"They made their move… wait, Kakuzu is dead? Shouldn't he have been very hard to kill?" Ainz asked surprised as he claimed to nearly unkillable, Hidan even backed up his boast.

"Yes… and the reports say he was killed by a single attack…" Tanya frowned. Then Temari and this… Sai, were both killed by the same person?"

"We recovered what was left of their bodies, they seemed to have been killed by another… so we have at least two enemies on the attack,"

"But there, of course, will be more…" Ainz stroked his chin while thinking.

"How strong was this Sai?" Ainz asked but Tanya shook her head.

"Danzo would know better than I as he was a ROOT member, you should call him in here, right now he's organizing a search party for these enemy shinobi but…"

"But it will be ANBU against Akatsuki…" Ainz cast [MESSAGE] and shortly after Danzo entered with a grave look on his face.

"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown…" Danzo bowed with respect but rose quickly.

"The situation is…" Danzo began but Ainz raised his hand to stop him.

"Yes I know, Tanya has filled me in, what I would like to know is more about this "Sai" member that died… I have not met him yet," Ainz said. Danzo nodded.

"He was my most gifted ROOT member, I had very high hopes for him someday," There was a look of regret on Danzo's face.

"Then losing him… is a big loss in power for your group?" Danzo nodded at his question. Ainz thought for a moment.

"Tanya… it's time we finished your training…" Ainz suddenly said, as if to change the subject.

"Finish my?… Oh, you mean I need to go train under him…" Tanya frowned she knew he meant Orochimaru. The only ninja arts she could not learn were ones outside of her elements and the forbidden techniques that belonged to Orochimaru.

"He can teach you how to perform the resurrection Jutsu… why not try and bring Sai back using said ninja arts as a test when you feel you're ready," Ainz said nodding. Tanya smirked. Having a soldier that would obey her orders without question, no matter what the order was, definitely appealed to her.

"Fine… what about the other two?" Tanya asked.

"Well, Kazuku is too valuable to lose, and even if he acts like he does not care… I'm sure Gaara misses his sister… I will bring them back using [TRUE RESURRECTION]." Danzo chuckled. Tanya and Ainz both cast him a curious glance.

"Is something funny?" Tanya asked raising an eyebrow. Danzo stopped and shook his head, his professional demeanor returning.

"I find it a bit weird that you speak about to bring the dead back so easily… I still need to get used to this…" he said but Ainz shook his head.

"Unfortunately I do not have infinite uses of this spell… I won't be able to resurrect any more soldiers so flippantly… so make sure they stay alive this time…" Danzo bowed once more that he understood.

"I will go to bring them back… meanwhile Tanya…" Ainz raised his hand and cast [GATE]. A large black portal appeared where his hand was pointed at.

"This will take you to Orochimaru's lair… he's expecting you, but leave the scroll here." Tanya frowned but nodded that she understood. After a quick inspection that she had her things she slung the rifle over her shoulder and walked through the portal.

"Then I will continue searching for the invaders… they have no doubt infiltrated our borders…" Ainz nodded and Danzo left to do as he said he would.

The next thing Tanya saw was a dimly lit arena. Orochimaru was already there with a young boy next to him.

"Welcome, Tanya! We've been expecting you!" Orochimaru said, opening up his arms and palms in a welcoming manner. Tanya nodded in recognition of his welcoming and looked at the spiky-haired boy next to him that looked as old as she was.

"Oh, this is my protege, Sasuke," Orochimaru introduced him. Tanya also nodded toward him.

"What is his purpose? A training partner or something?" Orochimaru smiled wickedly.

"Something like that… I would like to see what you are capable of in combat… and the same for Sasuke, I think a fight between you two would benefit you both and tell me where you are in your training, as I understand it you are already learning elite level Jutsu arts… but I'd like to see how well you can incorporate them." he said shrugging. She looked at Sasuke who just had an unhappy look on his face.

"O...kay… and who will referee this fight… you?"

"Referee? No, this will be a battle until one of you falls…" Tanya looked at him in surprise.

"Falls? And what if one is killed?" She asked surprised. Orochimaru simply shrugged again.

"Death… does not concern Sasuke… and if he is able to kill you… then you will not be strong enough to learn my techniques in the first place… so hold nothing back!" he laughed. Tanay smiled… Orochimaru's method of training may closely resemble her own… people who survived hell in training were always better soldiers than the ones that did not… this was fine by her, plus this Sasuke did not look like much… she had seen him fight in the placement tests and wasn't impressed.

"Okay fine… then let's get this over with… but don't complain if I kill him…" Tanya said taking a spot that Orochimaru motioned for her to stand. Sasuke stood at the opposite end of her in the round arena that reeked of blood. This was clearly a place used to seeing slaughter and death.

Sasuke 's face and arm became covered in weird black markings that crawled across his flesh like a snake. Tanya had seen this kind of thing before and understood it was a power-boosting skill unique to Orochimaru. She used her own magic to instantly increase her speed and power. After casting her spell she would be able to follow his movements.

Sasuke decided to begin the fight. He kicked off at her but turned and ran literal circles around Tanya. She smirked as she could guess what he was trying to do. She could guess that he would attack as soon as she attempted to make any hand symbols. Instead, she quickly reached into a small personal space provided to her by Ainz and had a metal object in her hand.

She tossed it at her feet and it made a loud hissing sound as thick plumes of smoke surrounded her. She raises a face mask that hung around her neck like a bandana. The smokescreen blocked Sasuke's vision of her and realized she was using this to form her hand symbols.

"Sharingan!" Sasuke activated his eyes and they took on an ominous red glow. He could see her chakra past the smoke and smirked smugly.

"You have a lot to learn if you think a simple smokescreen will help you!" he snorted and ran into the smoke at her chakra signature. As soon as he charged Sasuke picked up Orochimaru clicking his tongue in disappointment and realized he had made a mistake.

Sasuke came face to face with a smiling Tanya, so close their noses were almost touching.

"Gotcha!" a sadistic smile swept across her face.

"Wha…" Sasuke was saying but his body was blasted as two grenades that Tanya was holding in her hands. He was able to raise his guard allowing his arms and legs to take the brunt of the blast. Tanya's body was destroyed but simply poofed out of existence.

The real Tanya was hovering above the arena. Orochimaru smiled as Sasuke's broken and bloody body fell to the ground but soon after turned into a white snake. Both of them had used a clone. Sasuke was already preparing for Tanya who was coming at him from above.

As three loud gunshots rang out Sasuke threw Kuni to intercept and deflect the bullets. She clicked her tongue in disappointment as her plan had failed. By now Sasuke's skin was turing grey and his eyes now were black and red instead of white and red. Even his body mass seemed to be growing.

"A transformation?" She realized he was still getting stronger. As she thought about how much power he could really raise he immediately swung at her like a wild beast. Tanya narrowly avoided the swipe the air from his attack blowing her hair back and dispersing the smoke from her canister with air pressure caused by his immensely powerful swing.

"Die…" Sauske moved at her like a dark lightning bolt, she could feel his killing intent and knew he meant to end her life in a single blow.

She tried to counter him with a rifle butt attack. But Sasuke read the attack and raised his arm, blocking it with forearm. She should have broken the bone he used to block but it seemed she failed to even leave a bruise.

"That attack should have shattered his bone…" Tanya muttered to herself. Sasuke jumped away from her as she did the same. He respected her strength and didn't press a minor advantage.

"He's smart too…" She was annoyed at how cautious he was being. He hunched over as two wings...no… hands? Two large hands came from his back with their palms opened up to the sky.

"He's still changing, no… He's not human?" Tanya had not seen anything like this before not associated with Ainz.

Orochimaru clapped in happiness upon seeing Sasuke finishing his transformation.

Tanya opened fire at him again, she'd use the distance to her advantage. Sasuke quickly looked up and side stepped between her bullets.

"He can see my bullets? How is that possible… Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Tanya crossed her hands and four other Tanya's appeared, immediately raising their guns and opening fire. Again he dodged her attacks, running in zig zags along the floor. His movements were deliberate and precise, he was reading the trajectory by studying the muzzle of her weapon. But as he was kept on the defence he couldn't mount any kinds of attacks as all the Tanyas did not let up their firing. Until he clones, as well as the real Tanya, had to reload.

"Enough!" Sasuke growled swinging his arms out as lighting infused shirken flew between her attacks. The Tanya clones jumped 'heroic style' in front of their real counterpart. Her human wall absorbed the attacks then popped out of existence with several loud POOFS.

By the time the real Tanya was revealed she was already preparing her next move. Her palm was opened up and lightning was gathering in it. Sasuke's eyes went wide with recognition of the lightning cutter Kakashi was famous for using.

"Oh lord… hear my words and answer my call…" Tanya's eyes lit up gold and the lightning gathering in her hand turned yellow and gold as opposed to blue and white. Sasuke took a few steps back, he could feel the energy from her even from this distance. Even Orichimaru who would always have a smug smirk on his face was frowning at what he saw.

"... give me the power to smite my foes in your glorious name..." The power did not stop mounting as she dashed at Sasuke.

There was a bright flash of light and she was gone. Sasuke looked around and he suddenly realized she was standing behind him, their backs to one another.

"When did she?" He was thinking when a realization came to him that he had been hurt.

"Eh?" There was just minimal damage to his chest… but that attack should have killed him he thought but there came a clapping from the side of the room.

"I see this was a mistake… Sasuke is nowhere near your level dear Tanya… I apologize for wasting your time." Orochimaru said with yet another sneaky smile. Tanya's attack had been so absolute that she was even afforded the luxury of sparing Sasuke's life with ease.

Sasuke stood there dumbfounded as his human form began to come back slowly. He simply stood there with the understanding he had been utterly defeated in a single attack he could not even see with his Sharingan…

"Good… then can we get on with it?" She looked at Orochimaru with a smirk of her own. He bowed and turned and beckoned her to follow. Her lessons of the forbidden jutsu would now begin.

Ainz Ooal Gown sat in the Hokage's office with Danzo. It had been two days since Tanya left for Orochimaru's lair for training. Danzo sat in silence as Ainz Ooal Gown formulated his master plan.

"Tanya is still learning with Orochimaru, I hope things are okay over there…" Ainz Ooal Gown muttered loud enough for Danzo to pick up. He cleared his throat a bit before speaking.

"My Lord,I'm sure The young Mistress will do fine, I've never seen someone take to the skills as fast as she has." Danzo said nodding. He was telling the truth, someone who had no knowledge of chakra and still able use ninja arts after only a few months of training was nearly unheard of. Danzo was always reminded of himself at that age when he looked at the young Tanya.

"Indeed… if she can learn to make bring back the dead…" Ainz Ooal Gown trailed off but Danzo knew the benefits of such an art could produce. Danzo wondered why his lord seemed to not be able to learn ninja arts.

Even when changing to a human he could not use any technique that required chakra. Spirit paper even acted as if nobody was touching it when trying to figure out his Lords elemental alignments. It was most curious but surely Ainz Ooal Gown would overcome this hurdle soon, he had complete faith in his Lord.

But there was still much to do and he had many reports he still needed to finish. After doing his duties with his Lord he left to take care of. The second stage of his Lords plan was about to happen and he'd need to have everyone ready.

Back in the dark lair of Orochimaru, another piece of Ainze's plan stirred awake.

Itachi opened his eyes. He was unable to move as weird roots that sprang from the wall had him captured. He could feel the drugs in his system still trying to keep him sedated.

A few seconds after waking he heard Ainzes voice in his head.

"Good Morning Itachi… how are you?"

"A-Ainz? I-I'm in the lower levels of…"

"Yes, I know where you are, but how do you feel?"

"...druggy still…"

"Alright, well you're friend will be coming soon… just wait for him to show himself."

"My… friend?" Itachi was confused.

"Indeed…" and the [MESSAGE] ended. Itachi wondered who he could mean when after a while something weird happened.

In the room Itachi was held there were several scientific looking things all around him from weird machines to vials filled with bubbling liquid, and when those bubbles in the strange liquid suddenly froze in place Itachi knew who Ainz was talking about and he frowned.

"Time has stopped…" Itachi thought to himself, his keen eyes allowing him to sense things in this vacuum of time. Then a hulking black figure appeared in the room. It had tentacles waving from behind it pitch black goat face, it's burning red eyes settled on Itachi. It was the creature that he had "killed" earlier before all this happened… Pann.

Pann silently walked over to Itachi, grabbed the robe of his chest and easily ripped him free of the vines he was imprisoned in. Itachi recognized Pann was sent my Ainz to free him but…

"This is fine but as soon as time starts again Orochimaru will know I've escaped…" He thought to himself but Pann seemed to hear his thoughts as Itachi's eyes darted to a camera that was keeping watch on the prisoner. Pann placed an open palm to the hollow area Itachi had been in. the ninja could barely make out two words from the assortment of goat bleats when the beast spoke…

"GreAteR IlLuSiOn." Then Itachi appeared back on the vines, but it was an illusion… an illusion his Sharingan could not see through… had he not heard the words "illusion" he would have assumed it was just a clone. Either way… if his sharingan could not see through it, it would fool Orochimaru's cameras.

Once they were out of the room time began once more.

"Where is Sasuke?" Itachi asked Pann who ignored him. Itachi clicked his tongue.

"So then… what? What's my mission from Ainz? I agreed to help him only because he promised me he'd take Sasuke away from this place…" Pann stopped and glared at him with his hate filled eyes. He then pointed to a long corridor.

"CoLlEcT… SeCrEtS…" Pann said in the same weird bleating goat voice. That made sense to Itachi… of any ninja, Orochimaru would definitely have the most "secrets", and Ainz, it seemed, wanted these secrets.

"What about my side of the deal? Who will rescue Sasuke?" Itachi demanded, which unnerved him, in this situation he would have no chance against Pann. If Pann had pupils he would have rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"tAkEn CaRe… Of." Pann bleated back. Itachi tilted his head. He wondered who would be in charge of his brother but… could he even trust the words of this thing? Pann handed Itachi a weird-looking scroll, one he's never seen before.

"What is this?" Itachi asked, not able to read the weird language on the scroll.

"PeRfEcT uNkNoWable" The monster said these words like Itachi should know what they meant.

"Okay fine… and what will you be doing?" Itachi asked. Pann simply walked behind Itachi and melted into his shadow, only his burning red eyes could be seen in the blackness.

"WaTcHiNg… YoU…" It bleated then became silent as the scroll in his hand burned up and the shadows around them suddenly widened and clung to his body. Itachi smirked, he knew a stealth ability when he saw it...

"Ainz never leaves anything to chance huh? He may be more paranoid than that man…" The way things were going Ainz would find himself toe to toe with the leader of his former group soon…

Itachi wasted no time and ran to the lower section of the compound. He expected to run into some kind of resistance but there was nothing or nobody. He ran, avoiding traps and cameras easily till he arrived to a sealed door.

"A seal…" Itachi frowned. Getting past this would take time and Orochimaru would be alerted the second it was broken. If he were a deal expert this could be circumvented but that was area he lacked much knowledge in.

"GrEaTeR TelePorTatiOn" His shadow spoke and suddenly he was on the other side of the door. Itachi was a bit taken aback from the spell but quickly put his mind to the task at were numerous things to inspect from sealed boxes to even heavier sealed scrolls.

"I wonder what I'm supposed to be stealing?" Itachi wondered out loud. His "mission objective" was vague at best. Then, almost to answer his own question his eyes landed on several glass jars with various body parts inside them, some just skin or hair. The labels were all he needed to read to know this was what Ainz wanted.

"Hokage 1. Hokage 2. Hokage 3. Gambler. Idiot." Itachi said out loud as he read off their labels.

In another part of the compound Tanya was immersed in her training. She had been studying under Orochimaru for 48 hours straight, never taking or needing a break.

"You are very close to learning this forbidden technique of mine… I've never had a pupil like you before…" Orochimaru said looking the body of Tanya up and down. She stopped and looked at him suspiciously.

"I hope you're not getting any weird ideas!" tanya said as she was going over the details he'd been teaching her. Orochimaru chuckled.

"My Dear Tanya… all I have are weird thoughts…" he laughed again. She looked at him with then went back to her studies. There was so many things to teach her that they had each created clones and each clone pair were undergoing different studies. When Tanya ended the clones lives she would absorb all their knowledge about what that clone had been taught. Using this method they were able to cover six times the ground a normal class would. Of all the uses of clone jutsu, this was easily their best benefit.

"So how much longer?" Tanya asked. She was referring to when she could undo her clones to gain what they learned… she had a grasp of what she needed to do but the finer points still escapered her, something that would be filled in when she ended them.

"Not much longer… our groups will be finished soon, why not finally take a rest, I will provide a room…"

"I don't need rest… and I'd rather not drop my guard around you." Tanya said flatly. Orochimaru simply grinned and nodded.

"You are indeed very smart… smarter than most…" he chuckled to himself. After a while, her teacher's head popped up.

"Okay… end your clone jutsu… the lessons are completed." Tanya did as instructed. Suddenly all the missing puzzle pieces of the jutsu came into place and she understood everything there was to know about it.

"Oh… I see… then… incredible… yes…" tanya remarked to herself as she mused over the jutsu.

"Once you perform this jutsu… you will be unable to enter heaven," Orochimaru said at last as she came to understand the forbidden art. Tanya only laughed at the joke.

"Then I'll be going… your end of the bargain is completed," she said as she got up and began making herself presentable. She reached into her breast pocket and took out a scroll, but not one the ninja's of this world would use. It burned up with a ghostly blue flame before it was consumed. This was the [MESSAGE] scroll Ainz had provided her.

"I'm finished…" is all she said before a familiar black portal opened up and she stepped through with no hesitation. Orochimaru simply waved goodbye. As soon as she was gone the pale skinned ninja turned to the shadows.

"Is Itachi still in the lab?" Kabuto stepped from the shadows with a smile.

"Yeah Lord Orochimaru… the surveillance still has him and there has been no change in his physical state since we strung him up… why?" Orichimaru shook his head and squinted.

"I was sure he'd tried to escape or… some other event would have happened by now… there is no way Ainz would let him fall into my hands that easily…" He mused and made his way to the lab.

"Does it matter? All we needed was his DNA… something I acquired right away from him… what other use…"

"Bait… he was bait but…"

"Ainz did not bite?" Kabuto asked, tilting his head. Orochimaru laughed loudly.

"I will go see if he has… anyway I just need him to feel like he's leading this little dance of ours,"

"If I may ask my master… what do you hope to gain from this alliance with The New Hidden leaf? It seems to me we have had everything you needed for some time,"

"Oh my dear Kabuto… we have all that and more… but one never passes an opportunity like Ainz, I don't seek to gain anything from him personally..."

"Then what do you…" But the Ninja stopped his subordinates dialogue with a raised hand.

"But he's dangerous my Lord… if we end up fighting…"

"No… Ainz is a temporary problem… his only concern is returning back to someplace called Nazarick… I assume his home world. When he eventually leaves this world… we will have such a fun time picking through the remains of this world he leaves in his wake." The sly ninja said smiling.

"Then you do not tend to fight him? Even after he betrays us yet again?" Orochimaru shook his head.

"No, I am certain he already has, but he operates at such a level that it's best to let him win… Ainz is a storm that is simply passing over this world… we only need to lay low and wait him out…" Orochimaru chuckled once more as he left to go check on his prisoner who he assumed would not be there.

"Besides, he will soon become very busy… we can move easier after that," Kabuta didn't know what his Master meant by that but he'd be ready either way.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY= New arrival (Enemies appear, Tanya under attack!)

The power to raise the dead. Tanya contemplated the power of this newly learned ability. While she knew they were not "really" the dead brought back, what would be summoned would be a reasonable facsimile that would have all the memories and powers intact, best yet, they would be compelled to obey her… no matter what their opinion of her or her orders were once brought back. But they could still say whatever they wanted if speech was left intact.

Ignoring the potential that benefit that power would hold in this war torn world, Tanya was looking ahead. Units that would be loyal to her over Ainz. A small smile appeared. While facing Ainz was all but impossible, if she could make someone simply… keep an eye on him, she could learn something valuable.

"Tsk…" Tanya clicked her tongue and bit her thumb with a frown. She already knew what she had learned did not put her on the same level as Ainz. But this was just her nature, to see things from all sides… in reality if Ainz could fight being X, she would lay all her chips on him…

"This should do it then…" She finished making several hand signs before placing her hands together. She felt a considerable drain on her mana, or chakra or whatever. Two coffins sprang from the earth and opened by themselves. Her eyes grew wide, almost surprised it worked on her first try. Soon after two people stepped out.

The first was Kakuzu, he even came with his old Akatsuki robe. His eyes were lifeless even before death so he looked the same. The other was the young boy with an emotionless expression. It was at this time Ainz clapped. He, of course, was presiding over the event.

"Amazing, a resurrection spell like I've never seen before!" Ainz sounded very excited. She stood and scratched herself thinking.

"But is this really okay? You said you'd bring back Kakuzu right?" Ainz just shrugged at her question.

"Yes, but after giving it time to think I think this is an improvement for them, seeing as they will be near impossible to kill so long as you stand… this raises their battle potential quite a bit!" Ainz clapped again, he again seemed far less like an invading ruler from an unknown realm and more like a kid playing a game Tanya thought with raised eyebrows but she decided she liked this side of him.

"Okay so… now I do this…" She stuck a kunai with the jutsu tags attached, they sunk in by themselves, this would ensure their loyalty to Tanya. Either way, this was a success.

"Welcome back." Ainz simply said. The two recently slain warriors looked around.

"I know what this is… and I approve, death did not suit me." Kakuzu said from behind his grey ninja mask. Sai seemed somewhat more surprised, or at least, she thought so, his expression was blank and emotionless… perhaps he was suffering from some kind of resurrection trauma?

After finishing the jutsu the way she had been taught both once dead members she addressed them loudly.

"Right, as of now, you both will work directly under me, any objections?" She eyed them each. But both ninja simply looked at her and awaited orders.

"Well the spell seems to be a success, we'll use this to resurrect our important units from now on as my spells are costly, and this can be done for free as far as I can tell." Ainz mused as he scratched his chin. Tanya concurred of course.

Some ways away within the village several ninja were looking over the battlefield where the message to Tanya had been.

"Why would they do this… let us know they are within our borders?" A pink haired ninja asked as she looked around. A ninja the same age with white eyes and white jacket inspected the area with his special eyes.

"Well it's not a trap… nobody is around nor is there any signs of anything but this message." Neji informed Sakura. Sakura didn't mind working with Neji but she missed her old team member of Sasuke… naruto was alright too she guessed. When Ainz took over he did away with the old team system and now many ninja worked together in much larger groups that could consist of varied individuals depending on what was needed at the time.

"So… what do we report? We found nothing? Ainz Ooal Gown will not be happy about that…" Both of them frowned when she said that… it was true.

"What do you think it means?" Neji asked. Sakura tilted her head, not sure what he meant.

"Devil of the Rhine… what does that mean?" He clarified. Sakura shook her head.

"Probably a title… but…" Sakura cut herself off. Neji sighed heavily then suddenly snapped his head to one side, Sakura knew this meant he had seen something.

"What is it?"

"We're being watched… above us…" Neji calmly said. She knew better to suddenly look up and give away the fact they knew they were not alone.

"An enemy or one of Ainzes… things?" She whispered. He shook his head slightly to indicate he didn't know but they had to assume it was an enemy.

"They might be waiting for Tanya to show up here… if that's the case they might not attack…" He whispered as he looked around, seemingly unaware they were under surveillance.

"Alright… So, what now? Do we leave or…" Sakura asked as adrenaline began to pump, she was not really looking to enduring an ambush attack, even one she knew was incoming. But her attention was caught as movement surrounded her and Neji.

While she stood there stunned at the fact that, within a blink of an eye, they were surrounded. Neji was already falling back into his gentle palm fighting stance.

"We had hoped Tanya would be the one to show up…" One of the dark figures said. They were cloaked in black robes, faces hidden.

"Is it the Akatsuki?" Sakura whispered to Neji who had his back to hers, she too had fallen into her defensive fighting stance.

"Pretty obvious of a ploy... " Neji said with a smirk. One of the black hooded figures shook their head. Neji took note of that.

"To be sure… but one worth the risk should it had paid off… anyway, we just needed someone to show up…"

The four figures burst into many pieces of paper. that engulfed the entire area in a thick swirling paper shreds. Both ninja knew they had fallen for an attack but with her vision impaired she could not make out what was happening. She could still feel Neji's back against hers still, the fact he hadn't moved meant nothing was coming at them that needed dodging yet. She would need to base her movements off of his, he knew she would do this.

"Now.." He signaled and ran his hand quickly up her back, letting her know they would attempt a vertical escape to get out of the paper cloud.

The large mass of paper saw two figures dart out of it. Neji was scanning the area as they escaped. They landed some distance from it.

"It's too late… you don't need to be in that for my jutsu to affect you… I've already won." A confident voice said. There was just one person there. She was wearing the signature Akatsuki cloak. She had short light blue hair with a rose in it. Neji's eyes grew wide with worry, he recognized her.

"That's an S-ranked criminal…" he muttered, but Sakura had figured that much out. The next relaxation was their bodies were covered with those paper pieces. Even when peeled off they would just rewrap themselves over the fingers used to pry them off.

"I would suggest you listen to what I have to say… I could kill you both very easily right now." The girl said in a kind voice. The two leaf ninja could appreciate their position and simply nodded that they would. She seemed pleased but still did not smile.

"Good… you should know I am here only to gather information on the one called Ainz Ooal Gown…" Sakura and Neji exchanged glances, neither of them knew much about their new mysterious overlord.

"We only follow orders… we never met him or anything…" Sakura grew pale in the face as she recalled her one meeting with the man… she had never spoken of it to anyone.

"Oh, I figured as much… no… all you must do is walk back into the village… and not mention to anyone about this little meeting of ours. My little butterflies will do the rest…" As she said this several paper butterflies flew and attached themselves to the ninja like the others.

"Why would we do that?" Sakura sneered. The Akatsuki member shrugged.

"Why? Well… if you don't I will kill you both the second you try to say anything. If you do as asked nothing will happen… they will leave your body and disperse around your village… giving me the information I need…"

"You're asking us to betray our village so flippantly?" Neji sounded genuinely insulted.

"The village that was hostilely taken over? Do you really owe the "Ainz Ooal Gown" your allegiance?" She tilted her head to one side. There was hesitation but Neji spoke up.

"It's still our home… regardless who is running it…"

"Then do this to get your homes back… we only want a few members of your village… we have no concern about it's existence past that… if you…"

"Yeah I'm sure…" Neji could tell the time for talk was ending… they would need to make a decision… and fighting was not an option. He grit his teeth at the pain that would…

"Okay." Sakura spoke out of turn. Neji looked at her with shock.

"Sakura…" He raised protest but she cut him off by raising her hand and giving him a knowing look… she had a plan.

"So we just go into the village and…"

"Well I'd like it more if you could get close to the forest of death… we know that's where his base is…" Sakura shook her head.

"Only select members can go there without fear of death… that won't be possible for us." This didn't seem to bother their enemy.

"And besides… with someone like that around… I don't think you really wish to collect information." As he spoke he nodded his head to an area far from them.

"Oh? You can detect him can you? Impressive." The figure Neji could see remained hidden, keeping Sakura guessing as to who it could be.

"Anyway, you made a mistake coming here… The eyes of Ainz Ooal Gown see everything…" Neji said, smirking. The female rogue ninja tilted her head. Neji stood back as if expecting something.

A loud bang broke the silence of the field and the female ninja's face exploded in pieces of burned paper. They quickly returned, forming her face back and looking as if no damage had been taken.

"Who?" The female ninja looked to where the projectile has come and saw a girl hovering above them, she was even younger than the leaf ninja she had captured but the blonde girl wearing a strange green uniform looking down at them seemed to burst with confidence. She was holding an iron gun in her right hand, a curl of smoke danced from it's hot barrel.

"Oh… it's the helper…" The female Ataksuki mentioned as she smiled upon seeing Tanya. The hidden member that Neji had detected earlier slowly made himself visible. He had orange hair, the akatsuki robe and some metal bars like piercings along the ridge of his nose.

"Pain, would you mind taking care of her for me while I deal with these two?" She said in a calm voice. Tanya turned to her opponent.

"Sure… I have no problem with this." He said, just as calm.

"You Ataksuki are pretty dumb… you keep showing up and keep getting beaten." Tanya laughed as she landed a few feet from Pain.

"We already know you are here… you're planning to sneak in…"

"Was not our real plan…" Pain interrupted her. The smile vanished from her face. Pain looked at her with strange eyes she had never seen. Tanya knew "weird eyes" in this world typically meant they held some kind of special power, she knew to be careful.

"I had hoped Ainz himself would come… and some lackey, but it does not matter." Tanya wasn't sure what happened but she was suddenly surrounded by five more Akatsuki members, all but one was male, all orange hair and all with those weird piercings in their faces… they also shared the same eyes.

"If this guy thinks he can beat Ainz… then I'm probably not a match for him" Tanya calculated her chances. She had rushed here thinking the person who had "called her out" earlier would be here but that wasn't the case.

"Well… I didn't come alone either…" Tanya nodded her head. There was a puff of smoke and she was flanked by a man wearing a purple robe. He held a three pronged scythe.

"So it's true… you really did betray us." The female ninja said, seeing the appearance of Hidan.

"Konan… I'm surprised to see you here." Hidan greeted his former team member. She simply turned her attention back to the ones she had captured.

"So you're here expecting a fight... " Tanya worried about that. She sensed there was more to this than a simple attack, which means they were probably playing into their enemies plans.

Two of the six members moved away from Tanya, putting distance between her and them.

"They will be the ranged attackers…" Tanya pulled out her special rifle and pulled the trigger. The weapon fired out a barrage of magically created bullets. The attack ripped one of the members to shreds.

Konan and Pain both stood in surprise. Neither had expected that kind of attack to work. The member she had fired on was no longer held together, the bullets had torn the body to pieces. The remaining members all moved at once.

They began the battle by charging at Tanya. Tany slammed her palm into the ground. Lightning filled the air in the form of butterflies that spun around her like a tornado of energy. One of her attackers rose his hands and large earthen walls surrounded her and collapsed in, threatening to bury her alive. The earth easily fell past her wall of lighting.

She jumped up, leaping out of the grave with her rifle at the ready. As she emerged from the plume of lightning and dirt she was already fighting. One of her attackers attempted to counter her escape by descending downward to meet her upward arc. He slashed at her with a blade she hadn't seen before, but was still able to parry with the bayonet her rifle had.

Tanya's eyes glowed golden as her magical strength allows her to match the blinding speed of her opponent… almost. As she broke away from the fight, crimson strands flowed down her arm and leg from newly made cuts in her uniform and skin. As she was realizing she was not able to match their speed she was already being countered.

"GAH!" Tanya cried out as several attacks comboed onto her. She felt her ribs crack as a leg planted itself in her chest and she was sent skidding along the ground. After several coughing fits she raised her face from the dirt. She was on all fours and trying to get to her feet. But her body objected as pain from her broken bones rendered her useless.

"Hmm… not very powerful after all…" The first man that the girl called Pain said. Tanya raised her weapon but her vision was blurry. What was with this guy and his group? They were so much stronger than what she had encountered thus far and the team he was in moved like they were controlled by one person… it was flawless and impressive, or it would have been if she wasn't already on death's door.

Escape? Tanya wondered if that was even possible at this point. She had ran into someone far beyond her capabilities. Hidan's face and body changed to that of like… skelton paint, though now it seemed his marking resembled the features of AInz Ooal Gown over a generic skeleton. His ritual was ready.

Hidan swung his weapon in a wide arc around him to give himself enough room to fall back to Tanya's side.

"We have to hold here… we…" Tanya tried to speak, but as she did she saw they were being flanked by many paper butterflies.

"We…" Hidan tried to say something but as the papers attacked themselves over him he started clawing at them. He was soon covered in them and he fell to the ground.

"This damn paper weighs a ton…" He grunted as he tried to prop himself on his weapon.

"I do not bleed, so I have no fear of you Hidan… now sleep." Konan said as the two were blanketed by layer and layer of chakra weighted paper.

"Shit... " He soon fell next to Tanya." Tanya reached into her pack with one of her working arms. When Hidan saw the scroll his eyes lit up. Tanya activated the scroll and it burned away in blue fire.

"Ainz… help…" Was what the [MESSAGE] said that she sent. But she blinked… the spell had not connected to Ainz, but someone she did not know.

The remaining members of Pain's group stopped. They seemed satisfied.

"He is coming I believe…" Pain said to the blue haired girl who emotionally looked at Hidan and Tanya.

"Are you sure?"

"That thing she used… wasn't a barrier or attack… it must have been a message to call for help."

"And you think she called Ainz?"

"Who else?" He shrugged as they scanned around them. A large black portal opened up not far from Tanya. Another strange ability they did not recognize.

"There… he will come from that hole…. Be sure to attack Ainz the second he..."

"ATTACK AINZ?!" A female's voice screamed out. What emerged from the portal was not Ainz, but a girl clad in blood red armor. She held a large lance in one hand and two wings sprung out from behind her. She moved with such speed that her impact had already obliterated one of Pain's group before they could even move.

"Who?" Konan asked as she tried to pull away.

"You… where is Ainz Ooal Gown?" She demanded. Her red eyes flaring up. She ignored the defeated Tanya and Hidan. An explosion marked her kicking off with so much force that the rubble almost covered them and another of Pain's members vanished in explosion of blood and bone.

"Escape…" Pain said as the remaining members fell around her, ready to sacrifice themselves to cover her retreat.

"Haaaaa!" The crimson clad warrior screamed as holy light engulfed the area around her reducing all but one member to dust.

"Tell me where Ainz is…" She growled. Pain, the last standing body of his group raised his hands as his new enemy plunged her spear into his chest, she had covered such ground in so much time it was like she teleported.

"I only need one of you…" She sneered, slamming her lance down and pinning the man to the ground beneath it. She closed her eyes and another girl appeared next to her that looked the same but shone in a pale light and was all white.

The clone she had summoned darted off after the fleeing cloud of paper that had tried to flee when she attacked Pain. The white clone slashed at each paper butterfly with such speed it was like dropping paper mache into a blender.

"Kyyaa!" The blue haired Konan fell out of the cloud as the remaining paper pieces converged.

"You don't need them… we are servants of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, we can take you to him!" Hidan yelled out to the red armored valkyrie. The girl looked at him and nodded, The girl muttered something before her body was covered in a big blue circle, the girls white clone broke off and created a large gap between her and the running ninja. The blue bubble like energy soon vanished and a huge blast of fire consumed the fleeing female, she was gone before she could scream.

The warrior and her clone casually made their way to the pinned Pain. However he lay motionless, seemingly dead.

"Dead huh?" The girl said as she turned to Hidan and Tanya. She pointed her lance menacingly at the two.

"My name is Shalltear Bloodfallen, future bride to Ainz Ooal Gown and his loyal servant… now, take me to him!" She demanded with anger in her eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE= All will be one (Nazarick is ready for war. The ninja nations tremble!)

Shalltear, as soon as she found out where to go, headed toward her master as fast as she could. Several ninja guards sent word of "something moving too fast to see is headed toward the Forest of Death" and alarms were going off by the time she had made her way to his door.

"LORD AINZ!" The office doors of Ainzes office nearly exploded open from her voice alone. Yet as she entered his room in her classic dress and umbrella combo she walked in with dignified grace. She casually had the umbrella over her shoulder but her trembling betrayed her excitement.

"E...EH!?" Ainz sat up in near shock. He was still only briefly informed about the fight that had happened, to see Shalltear before him in the flesh was like getting a drink of leondeade when you were parched… or the mental equivalent to it anyway.

"S-Shalltear? What… How…" She blushed and smiled shyly.

"Lord Ainz is so happy to see me he cannot speak!" Shalltear squealed. In truth Ainz was getting several refreshing emotion stabilizing waves, he was so overcome with joy and shock it was true that talking currently escaped him.

"Imagine my surprise when I hear a weird voice in my head asking for your help, I knew immediately I had to go to it, that it would lead me to you and… at long last it has!" She ran to him and fell to her knees.

"Oh but it really is you… yes… only the real you could stir up these emotions in me!" She shuddered as she touched the hem of his cloak. While he could understand her missing him, it had not been really THAT long since he'd come to this place.

"In the many years you've been gone we've been worried sick that you…"

"Years… many?" He stopped her. Shalltear blinked and looked up with shock.

"Why… why, yes my Lord… nearly 55 years have passed since you've left us…" She shook her head with grief and sorrow. Ainz shook his head. None of this made any sense! Her [GATE] spell worked when he had failed… and time being so… different, he had no idea.

"So, you mean… Nazarick has been without me for over five decades?" Ainz said in a soft tone. Shalltear nodded, still a little confused. Ainz put his hand to his face and shook his head. He was no longer working on an acceptable time table. Then the flood of other questions hit him, about the recent attack. Danzo stood in silence, cut off from Shalltear's entrance.

"I'm sorry Danzo… um, you said everyone is alive?"

"Everyone that means us harm. Yes, your… future bride killed all the attackers as I was saying, Sakura and Neji are safe, Tanya was hurt but is already recovering and will come to speak with you in person when she is able." Danzo informed Ainz.

"Eh? Tanya? She? Who is this Tanya that can report to Lord Ainz when it suits her?" Shalltear asked, frowning.

"Uh, Well she… is Lord Ainz Ooal Gowns second in command and his top floor guardian."

Shalltear felt as if she were suddenly falling in a deep black pit of despair as Danzo's words echoed all around her.

"His Top floor Guardian…" Over and over. In her absence he had promoted this… Tanya to such a rank… had he forgotten her?

"Oh, and Tanya was the young blonde girl you rescued upon your very timely arrival, Lady Shalltear. Shalltear was still in shock when Ainz realized something else he had said.

"You said she was my future bride?" Ainz asked. Danzo looked at Neji and Sakura's field report and nodded.

"Yes, this was how she announced herself My Lord." Danzo said looking back and forth between the two. Shalltear was snapped out of her stupor and blushed with another bashful smile.

"Apologies My Lord… I may have been a little over excited upon hearing your name so unexpectedly in my mind and…" Ainz raised his hand in understanding.

"It's okay Shalltear… I understand it must have been hard for you all without me…" The familiar faces of his beloved members of Nazarick all flooded his memory.

"Should I…" Danzo looked at his unfinished report. Ainz nodded. Shalltear showed she understood and bounced happily to her lord's side.

"As I was saying… The female ninja is named Konan, upon resurrecting her, Tanya has learned she was sent here to infiltrate our town, or at least learn how loyal the ninja she encountered were as we are finding guards who were questioned by her all over the outer rims of our territories." Danzo bowed showing he had finished.

"This was a bold and obvious move… what about the 6 others, what did they say when brought back?" Danzo frowned.

"We… do not understand why but those six do not respond… they are like lifeless dolls... Tanya has said she has never seen the spell fail like this before." Ainz tapped his desk.

"Well it shows they are still not convinced they can take us in a fight… or are still preparing for one."

"But… Shalltear… how exactly did you end up here?" Ainz asked, hoping she could repeat whatever she had done.

"Um… well, I just received a [MESSAGE] from a voice I did not recognize, but it used your name my Lord so I opened up a [GATE] spell and found myself here. Ainz scratched his chin in thought.

"For whatever reason it seems sometimes spells work… oddly here at times… at least when [MESSAGE] is concerned…" This gave Ainz some new ideas on how to possibly get home, but that would have to be put on the back burner for now when he had time to experiment with Shalltear's spells and his own.

"But my Lord what…" Shalltear began but was interrupted.

The door opened and a roughed up Tanya entered, though she seemed to be on the mend and bandaged up. Her blue eyes immediately fell on the new arrival. Despite that she remained professional.

"Oh, Tanya, good." Ainz waved to her and motioned for her to join them. Shalltear looked at the little girl and frowned. So this was the… "highest ranked floor guardian?" How could this pipsqueek command such a title… even if it wasn't the "real" Nazarick.

"Their target is the tailed beasts Naruto and Gaara as we were told. As far as our attacker knows… that's still their only objective." Tanya said as she limped in. She and Shalltear exchanged another quick glance before breaking and looking back to Ainz..

"Ah, Tanya, this is my… original first Floor Guardian, Shalltear…" Ainz was explaining. Tanya stopped him.

"Yes, she introduced herself… " Business first.

"Right… well, then that is good news I guess…" Danzo said looking at some more papers.

"Well, not really, she said the remaining members of the Akatsuki have gone to the Lightning nation… which we suspected was already planning to move against us…"

"I see… Then they will incite them further to this point in hopes of getting the tailed beasts then… as well as theirs to boot…"

"Yes, that seems to be their goal… all our intelligence makes more sense with this known."

"Oh right… you had reported the Lightning nation was acting suspicious…. Well uh, more suspicious than usual." Ainz said, recalling the last report. Back when he was allowed to read reports at his own leisure thing got missed, but with Danzo spending half the day reading them off… no such luck on slacking off.

"Yes, it seems we now know why…" Ainz thought for a second.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Tanya, I have made up my mind. Get yourself healed up… we have work to do." She saluted him and left the room, a bit odd she did not bow like the others, but he understood it still entailed respect. Danzo and Shalltear both awaited to see what he would say next.

"With Shalltear added to my power… this campaign has grown almost too easy…" Ainz chuckled, she blushed at the open compliment. Danzo looked at her stunned.

"Is she so strong my Lord?" Ainz nodded.

"She once fought me to a near draw long ago… you can consider her to be mostly on my level." Danzo's jaw fell open. Shalltear now looked flustered. Clearly mentioning her betrayal still was not a pleasant experience, but he had also heaped even more praise on her by saying she was his near equal… her mind and body were conflicted on how to feel.

"I am confident she alone could take out the Lightning nations strongest fighters." Ainz concluded. Shalltear remained silent, awaiting her orders and to happy to be of such high use to her Lord.

"Then do you mean…"

"Yes! We will not wait for them any longer. We will be attacking the Lightning Nation… and then some." Ainz said with a confident nod. Danzo looked less than pleased, but still very curious...

"While You and Lady Shalltear are no doubt strong… The Lead ninja forces that do not have you two as backup will suffer…" Ainz shook his head.

"Worry not. The units I create will provide an easy path for our troops." Danzo still did not look sold.

"While impressive, your Death Knights may still be no match for…"

"No… Not Death Knights…" Shalltear now had a large grin on her face. While she had no idea what was going on, the marching steps of war never changed their beat, and she knew this song well.

"I've been saving something… for this very moment… meet me in the basement of this tower." Ainz got up and walked with Shalltear behind him. Danzo blinked in surprise.

"There's... a basement?"

In the room Danzo did not know about stood a sight that froze him upon witnessing it. The room was tremendous in size… it must be a good portion of the forest of deaths underground. The room had been made using earth jutsu, but what stood in the room was not of this earth.

Row after row of some kind of horse like creature stood in spooky silence. Pale yellow like smoke or breath emanate from their blackened skeletal frames.

"What are…" Danzo could only whisper… as he could feel the killing intent from each and every one of these things they all looked at their new guests in unison.

"Souleaters… each one of these can easily destroy a good sized army by themselves… and the more they kill, the stronger they become… so after culling an army of humans they will become more than strong enough to take on the generals of the army… the elites as it were. No Danzo, the Leaf ninja forces will do nothing more than clean up after the Soul Eaters… I suspect losses will be minimal as I only expect my human soldiers to stay in captured cities to maintain control, I won't need them on the front lines… or any lines for that matter, they simply will be occupying forces.

"Each one… an army… but there are over…" Danzo tried to count, but his answer was given to him before he could reach his final tally.

"200… There are 200 in total."

"Each with the fighting power of an entire army of ninja and it's commander?" Danzo whispered still as the realization was coming to him.

"Surly you didn't think I wasn't doing anything all this time? No, I wanted to make twice this… but with the news Shalltear has told me, I'll have to make do with this many, which will be easy given I have one of my floor guardians back." He still missed seeing the others but knew there would be a day he would be reunited with them as well.

"Make do? But with this many you could…" The other realization just hit him.

"Yes, attack every ninja nation at once… and with Shalltear here, I have yet another commander to lead us to victory." Ainz smiled sinisterly. Shalltear walked over and patted one of the foul beasts on it's… on what used to be its nose.

"But before that… Shalltear, I don't suppose your [GATE] spell could simply take us home?" Ainz didn't figure it would work… and of course he was right. Her [GATE] spell… for whatever reason, no longer could connect back to her and Ainzes home world. She begged for forgiveness but he assured her it was alright.

"It seems things can enter this world., but leaving it proves difficult…. Sadly I was expecting this result. Ainz said as he patted Shalltear on her head.

"We'll continue experimentation till we get it to work." Aizn assured her as he saw she was covering up her sadness of failing him. He decided it was time for a break and a talk.

"But… please tell me what has happened in my absence… how is Nazarick and my Kingdom holding up?" Shallteaar nodded, she had a lot to fill her master in on.

"For the most part Pandora's Actor has been able to cover for you in all official business. Thanks to Project Balrog the world dares not rebel against us…" Ainz remembered a mention of this "Project Balrog" when reading over Demiurges old reports. She must have noticed his confusion.

"Oh! That's right, you were not around when it was launched. Balrog is a floating fortress powered by two Dragon Lords. It can fly over any area of the map and rain down destruction with no cost to our resources!" She explained proudly. It certainly sounded like a project Demiurge would dream up. He motioned for her to continue.

"So, all has been peaceful after a few… examples were made." She smiled brightly. It was a relief to know his home was well taken care of in his absence.

"Mare is doing well as King of the Elves. He and Zesshi had children and…"

"Children? I… I missed the birth of Nazaricks first members…"

"Uh, Yes my Lord, two half elves, a girl named Hitomi and a boy named Jin… they are the pride of Nazarick." She smiled again, she clearly loved these two children he'd never met.

"I see... " Ainz sat back, feeling a forlorn.

"And the rest?" She thought for a few moments.

"Ah, Aura is doing well, she helps Mare and Zesshi train and raise the new twins, she has proven to be a wonderful aunt to them. Ainz smiled at the thought of two little half elves calling Aura "Aunt Aura".

"Cocytus has been doing as you asked and still governs the lizard people and their ilk." It was clear she had not grown any respect for the "adopted" civilizations Nazarick was taking under its wing in the past.

"Demiurge concerns himself with the day to day duties and helps Pandora's Actor when he needs help deciding how you would want things to proceed…

Demiurge knew Ainzes plan better than he did… so that was no surprise Ainz thought with a satisfied nod.

"...while Albedo stays in Nazarick and governs it like she always has." Shalltear waved her hand around as if to dismiss this very important role. The news she gave him was good, everyone was fine and thriving…. But not being there for it, to see his children grow, still hurt.

Later that night in the war room, after Shalltear had been introduced to the rest of the new Nazaricks inner circle of Gaara and a healed Tanya… the business of world domination commenced.

"So you see, with Tanya's ability to enslave the dead… the more we conquer, the stronger our forces become... Making an army of unkillable… semi-powerful foot soldiers in our assault on the 8th floor." Shalltear nodded as she was filled in on the whole plan.

"Fair enough, but… My Lord, would it not be easier to kill this village and use it's members toward the same ends?" Danzo's face went pale. Tanya simply smirked. Ainz nodded.

"That would be a fast way of doing things, and with you now in my forces we have a very real chance of getting through the 8th floor… but… even if it was by force, I am still these people's ruler… I'd rather not think of them as so little…" He said this with a heavy heart for he now understood that every minute in this world equated to days passed in his own… but everyone in Nazarick was immortal by nature… he'd have to take solace in that fact for now.

"Now…" Ainz turned his attention to a large "war map" that was a map of the world with markers on it like the game it was.

"Tomorrow night we will unleash the Soul Eaters in all directions. They are not stupid creatures so will understand all with this signet on their heads are safe." He pointed to the Leaf symbol on the ninja leaf headband that he held.

"We'll send 50 souleaters and Tanya to the Nation of Wind. 50 Souleaters and Shalltear will attack the Earth Nation… then Ice. I will personally lead 50 Soul Eaters to attack the Lightning Nation… obviously we crush the smaller nations on the way to the bigger ones, bolstering our numbers further. After that, there are no other nations that could hope to threaten us once we mop up the rest of the smaller nations. The remaining Soul Eaters will remain here as guards, should any other rogue nations attack us while we're out… they will be halted immediately." Ainz finished explaining the broad strokes of the plan.

"And the human units of the Leaf?" Danzo tentatively asked.

"As I said, just follow in the wake of the Soul Eaters and pick off anyone that they miss, no need to put them in harm's way, I just need them to hold cities and bases we topple on the way to the capitals." This put Danzo at easy, even as Shalltear scoffed a bit.

"We'll of course assign our strongest ninjas as bodyguards for our commanders in this… once the power of the Soul Eaters becomes apparent they will resort to commander assassination most liklely." Ainz explained, looking at Danzo who smiled with a nod.

"And… what do we do if or when villages or nations surrender?" Danzo asked as he looked at a list of villages he figured would not fight.

"No good… I need strong bodies that can be resurrected and weak ones to make more fodder... ignore any surrender attempts and leave no one who looks capable in a fight alive." Ainz said coldly. Danzo's tone grew darker.

"...and the women and children?" Ainz shook his head.

"Undead women are just as capable as their undead counterparts… and I've seen how strong kids can be in this world… no, kill everyone that lives, no exceptions. Everyone is excused until further notice." Danzo only nodded and walked out. Tanya smiled as she passed Ainz and Shalltear, giving Ainz a polite nod as she passed. While it irked Shalltear how casual this Tanya was with her lord, he seemed to tolerate it so she would as well.

"So, now that is all taken care of… Tell me what's been going on in my absence… in more detail please." Ainz said, turning to Shalltear when they were alone. She took a seat and thought what to say..

"Just start at the beginning…" Ainz said, taking a seat across from her…

Tanya walked down the halls, with her summoned guardian close behind her."

"Some help you were in that attack!" She muttered to the hunched figure. The dark guardian looked lazily at her.

"You did not…"

"Yeah yeah I know… you can only take action when commanded too... " she shook her head in frustration, but decided to let it go at that.

"Anyway, just go back to guard mode and help me if I am attacked!" It bowed its head in understanding. She knew that order would only stand for about an hour or so… and she'd probably forget to reissue it every hour… she sighed.

But this war just got put on the fast track. And even better she was being given her own force to command… and no tactics were considered "dirty or unfair". A wicked smile crossed her face. This would be fun… not the hell scapes she used to be sent to under stupid or inept orders. Now she had the superior force and was free to use them to their fullest capabilities! The gears in her mind turned on how to do this as fast as possible.


End file.
